Soundwave's Demise
by Starseeded
Summary: '07 - Upon arrival at the jeweled planet known as Earth, Soundwave mysteriously crash-lands with little hope of survival. Some things just happen for a reason.
1. A Moment in Contemplation

**A/N**: _Only gonna say it once. I don't own any of it._

_You may have seen this around, maybe not. If you have, enjoy the changes, if not, enjoy anyway :D  
_

* * *

This isn't how it was supposed to happen…

He never believed in karma. Karma was a superstition used by fools who had no answers for why something happened. His logic denied the existence of it because it could not be proven.

Staring into the blank darkness that was now his vision, he realized how bad it really was. His HUD was now gone. His body was numb in some places, while others; pain receptors were still active and hitting his neural net with constant throbs or sharp stings from the acidy liquid that would touch them. He also could not hear all that well anymore. He'd lost that a while ago, and what sound did filter through was only white noise and static.

How long had it been? A few days? Weeks? He couldn't tell anymore. His chronometer had stopped working shortly after he'd crashed. With energon leaking from him, he calculated his time and his demise, seemingly his fate, not really all the willing to accept it. More of his systems started to shut down over time as he lay there contemplating his own death. His self-awareness was all he really had left as well as the dying connection to the ones within him. He'd already lost one. The others stayed with him. He didn't know if they just couldn't get out, or if they stayed by choice, but with them there, he knew he wouldn't die alone. He was learning the hard way about what it meant to hurt, what it meant to feel, and what it meant to be betrayed.

With each assaulting wave, the ocean's stinging salt water on his exposed wires and circuitry made him consider that maybe… just _maybe_ karma really did exist and had come at him with a big dose of 'this is what happens when you've done wrong unto others' vengeance.

* * *

_Until next time..._


	2. The Crash

A/N: _Ah, fall is in the air. I have a stuffy nose to prove it! Fall means cold is coming. I don't like cold._

_Anyway, less about me, more about Soundwave. Read on ;)_

* * *

_Previously…_

"_Lord Megatron's location: detected."_ With the announcement, he'd given Starscream, the stand-in leader, a circumference of where he believed Megatron to be just before he too began his descent into the planet. Even though he didn't have the exact coordinates for Megatron, he figured it was close enough, rather than having to search the entire planet.

Seeing the priest rolling for insertion, Starscream quickly told him in a condescending tone, _"Why don't you remain out here in orbit until _I_ give you further instructions."_ The Decepticon Air Commander had to play his cards right with Soundwave being so close. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that the mech would want to rescue Megatron as soon as he hit the ground – something he did _not_ want.

Heading in the general area of his nemesis and leader, Starscream could really care less where Megatron was – he only cared about getting that Allspark. It was guessed that the tyrant wouldn't have crash-landed that far away from the cube. Starscream and the mechs he'd chosen to follow began their insertion. There was no knowledge of where the Allspark was because its energies could not be detected, but with Megatron located, it would make it easier to get it. In addition, after it was in his possession, he would gladly find Megatron and help him find his way to the pit.

Starscream and his brigade were already well within the planet's atmosphere while Soundwave remained in stationary orbit over where he'd located Lord Megatron. The mech tracked where the others were and listened to Starscream give orders to them. Night began descending upon this side of the planet. He watched the land glitter with light as Earth rotated, reminiscing on how Cybertron looked a lot alike at night.

While he remained, he had considered what Starscream had ordered him to do. Well, _technically_ it wasn't an order, at least it didn't sound like one to him. It sounded more like a _suggestion_. The large Decepticon began transforming then rolled and aimed for Nevada, USA. He knew Starscream's plans, whether the twisted Seeker knew he knew or not, and he knew that he wasn't going to help Megatron. He used Earth's natural gravity to pull him in rather than waste the energy to enter faster, putting distance between him and Starscream.

What happened next, he wasn't entirely sure. A painful blast shot out of his left thruster just as he'd crossed the atmospheres. There was a louder and more powerful explosion that completely destroyed his thruster, throwing him wildly out of control, causing him to change trajectory away from his intent. His systems that had been devoted to controlling him blinked errors and unreadable jargon as he tried to correct his now tumbling body. Being in between the atmospheres at the time of the explosion caused a chain reaction up his back and his other thruster exploded. He watched as energon and other fluids spewed from his injuries, though there was nothing he could do at the moment. To top that off, his sensory system went on the fritz. Veering a long way off from where he was headed, he couldn't correct his fall and he knew he was doomed.

"_Warning: Propulsion systems down."_ His monotonous voice boomed in Cybertronian through their Decepticon internal link. He could only make an educated guess as to where he was headed. _"Trajectory: Pacific Ocean,"_ He wasn't certain if that was even right because of factors that were now unknown.

Upon hearing the CO, Starscream growled, angry that he'd disobeyed a direct order, _"That's what you get for disobeying _my _order. Do me and yourself a favor and die,"_ The cackle that followed was menacingly familiar. Starscream and the others were used to comrades falling all of the time, and this was nothing new for him, but at the same time, it was a blessing for him. The Air Commander certainly wasn't going to Soundwave's aid, and he wouldn't perchance he be rescued by any of the other Decepticons, so he would see to it no one else knew of what happened besides those who were present at the time. The Seeker figured the humans would find him and dissects him just as they did with any other curiosity they came across and thus get rid of him_ for_ him. It was the only thing, as far as he was concerned, that the humans were good for.

Soundwave, falling to the planet rapidly heard Starscream still giving orders,_ "Blackout, see what information you can get on the Allspark sin-"_

His communications sparked, sizzled, and then went to static before he could finish listening to the stand-in leader. This posed quite a problem because he also could not send out, rendering him mute. No one but himself would know where he would end up and he would not be able to call for help. With his flight systems unable to control him, his HUD was flashing at him as he lost all control on his decent. The mech read the scripts as they came across his piercing red optics before they fizzled into white noise and then shut down. None of it was good news.

Going off what he'd last seen on his HUD system before it blanked out, he was still able to determine where he was and basically where he was headed. Quickly he realized his velocity was now too high and his trajectory was far too steep turning him into a large meteor as he rocketed toward the planet. He was going to crash and had no way to slow his decent or even shield himself from the coming impact. This was going to hurt, and he knew it. The mech transformed into his root mode, hoping that would slow him just a little bit.

The smoking fireball that was the mech's body hit the Pacific Ocean water with an astounding crash. If anyone had been close by, they would have immediately noticed him. Steam erupted from where he'd hit and quickly vaporized as he was completely submerged by the stinging liquid. The water, not deep enough to break his speed, provided little cushion and he hit below where large rocks and boulders were just out of sight, ripping his shoulder-mounted radio wave sensor right off. The sudden cold hit his processors making him scream in pain, which sounded more like a squeal. His body screeched with sickening scrapes of metal against stone as it tore at his body, shredding armor from his torso, abdomen and legs. The impact wave he'd caused in the water began to return and he felt himself moved slightly as the waves above him on the surface rolled over him.

The smaller beings inside him had felt the large body hit forcefully, knowing he had crashed and it had knocked one of them inside of him offline, and the others questionable in status. His connection with them went unstable as well. They hadn't known how badly their host had been damaged and it was all too fast to even ask him. They were forced to wait until he settled before they could say or do anything. All of them curled up tighter into themselves to get away from the burning sensation the water made when it touched their damaged bodies.

Copious amounts of Energon flowed from his body in many places, mixing with the water, turning it a glowing blue. One could mistake the luminescence for plankton, and think nothing of it, while it was his lifeblood lighting up the water. His vocal processor was also damaged from the water.

His legs were considered a complete loss. The current caused by his crash mixed with the natural rip-current rolled and slammed him unmercifully against the jagged edges below mangled his armor beyond recognition and there was no relief in sight. Errors started to flood him more now, running amok all over his internal neural net, circuitry started shutting down as more and more malfunctions began. The crash sent him into an unstable overload of information, confusing him. His HUD was trying to display, but kept fizzling out, therefore he had no accurate readings. It told him is that he was still very much alive. However, he really didn't need _that_ to tell him, the unbearable pain was sure enough proof of that.

The water felt like it was burning him from the inside out. He needed to get out of this; it was stinging him and would surely destroy whatever circuitry he had left. His vision was down to mere shadows because his visor had been smashed and his optics had been damaged. They were running at only 20% and failing.

While he could still see, he looked for where the waves moved so he knew where dry land was. He painfully managed to pull himself from the rocks and into the sand. One arm, he found was more damaged than the other and wouldn't last long. Digging his claws into the sand for grip, he found it was extremely difficult, because the sand would move and his grip would fail. When he finally surfaced, he saw a rock wall with what appeared to be a cave or cavern not far from him. He limped by his arms, pulling his massive and wrecked body slowly and painfully over the ground towards the cave. The mech pushed through the pain from bare receptors scraping on the ground until he'd fit his entire body into what small shelter the rocks had to offer. He didn't know how long he would be here, but he needed to get his bearings and try to live. The mech was now fighting to stay online as the rest of his body told him it was preparing for imminent stasis.

Disgruntled and nearly destroyed, the mech could now feel and hear his minions crying and panicking when they felt him settle. Through the unstable connection between him and his symbiots yet to be learned even by him, he tried to soothe them and calm them, which would also help him concentrate. Through curiosity he had allowed the little 'parasites' to exist within his body, but now they were pulling from him what little power he had left. The intensity would have driven him mad if he hadn't been able to calm them all with a silent wave that was so often transmitted between the interconnected bots on a more intimate level. The small Decepticons that were now trapped within him started to become even more frantic and wanted out, knowing their host is in critical condition and might terminate, taking their sparks with him. They could feel his insecurity, which annoyed them as well.

* * *

Starscream had lost track of Soundwave and internally, he laughed. With Soundwave down, that was a total win. There was one less, and the most obvious, to challenge for throne of the Decepticons when Megatron would fail, and he felt he would this time. He wanted the Decepticons, and he made it clear when he'd tried to assassinate the tyrant without hiding the fact he'd done it. Soundwave always stood in his way. Somehow, Starscream felt it down to his internal circuitry, even if that's what you could actually call it, that Megatron's termination was short at hand. Until then, he'd play along. He still needed to find the Allspark.

* * *

Frenzy, the one who happened to be on the top of the smothering bots inside their host, knew about the enigmatic mech's condition the most and he started to fight for his own life. Soundwave wanted to scream when he felt a sharp stab in his chest. He had tried to reassure him, but it wasn't enough. There was a crack in Frenzy's compartment, which meant freedom. The Decepticon CO felt the little terror on legs start to violently attack the compartment that held him prisoner. Frenzy swiped and kicked, stabbed and ripped at the crack, fighting with all he had to free himself from the giant that was now at the mercy of the environment.

The mech knew no real emotion for millennia until now. As if his circuitry jarred it into him. He had since forgotten what it truly felt like to feel since he had been under Megatron's control. His life was only to take orders from his leader, which he did with precision. He had self-preservation at utmost hand however, but in some cases, he swore he had put it on the line for his master. That was his job, no matter what, even when Megatron ordered one of the smaller bots to do something, Soundwave could feel the dread from them and he could feel it on a very deep level when one of them got hurt to some extent, yet, it was nothing like he was experiencing now.

Finally, he'd managed to break the compartment enough to squeeze out. He looked at Soundwave to check his condition. Energon dripped into puddles under him. The extent of damage was horrendous; there was no way he would live. He ran, knowing he couldn't survive long on his own, because his spark wasn't all that powerful; he searched out another Decepticon host quickly. He did a quick search, seeing Barricade as the closest possibility and set a course for him. Frenzy severed his connection with Soundwave completely while he found a new host. The larger mech tried to call Frenzy's name, but even if Frenzy was listening, he never would have heard him.

The large mech finally dropped into stasis with the possibility of never coming out of it. Such extensive damage required him offline and even then, he would still be fighting for his life and the life of those that remained.

* * *

_Poor thing..._


	3. Frenzy's New Host

A/N: _I like to think in illogical logic. It makes me feel sophisticated. *grin*_

* * *

It had been a day or two since Soundwave had crashed, and Frenzy had been running, trying to stay under cover as he did so. He was damaged from the crash, but nothing severe enough it would hinder him right away. He had a few days left before he would be forced to go into stasis because of a lack of power. Until then, he would search out a new host spark. He knew the general location of Megatron, and as far as he knew, Barricade, Bonecrusher and Brawl were all probably close to that location, so he headed that way.

Meanwhile, in California, shortly after Barricade had landed, he found a new form. The size suited his needs, as did the light bar and the authoritative figure of the car. Plus humans tended to trust these figures and what better way to trick one than to appear to be something they trust? The mech quickly scanned it and took its identity. He sped off as a Saleen police Mustang, bound for Nevada.

The next day, Frenzy spied Barricade just when he'd gotten notice that his reserves were getting low. Now he was becoming desperate. He cut Barricade off at the pass and leapt at him from the darkness. With arms and legs stretched out, he landed on the hunter.

All Barricade saw was blue optics coming at him from nowhere, his first reaction, when not trying to give himself away was to dodge the assailant, but he didn't move fast enough. Barricade let out an ungodly snarl as he felt something latch onto him. Frenzy held on for dear life as the hunter gunned it down the road trying to shake him. His lights were flashing, his siren was blaring while he tried to shake the unknown invader off. When he couldn't shake him, he realized he would have to take him off, so Barricade searched out a place that was least likely to have humans.

After finding a spot out of sight to transform, Barricade immediately tried to dislodge his attacker. When he held the small 'Con up, he recognized it was one of Soundwave's symbiots. After a quick scan, he saw the mech looked a bit banged up and could probably use a recharge. Either he was met with bad, or Soundwave was pretty banged up too.

"Hn," the hunter groaned, debating on what to do with the cretin. Frenzy, that last stunt using the last of his reserves, had dropped into stasis while Barricade was looking at him. The hunter growled. Surely he didn't want this one, most of all, tagging around. However, he was aware of Frenzy's ability with computers, so if he was still alive, he was still useful. Perhaps it would be more useful for stealing the information they needed, since Blackout had since failed. Frenzy was Soundwave's 'computer specialist, hacker, whatever' and there was very little he couldn't hack into.

Blackout had gotten minimal information previously from Blackout and they needed more. They were aware now that the government knew well about their language, so therefore they had to of found Megatron or the Allspark. Something even more curious came about when Blackout had found trace information leading to a pair of glasses – Ones that had precise coordinates of where the Allspark was hidden. There was one problem, however. They did not know who had these glasses – or if they'd been destroyed.

The mech transformed and managed to set Frenzy down in his seat before fully turning into his Mustang mode. Turning onto a highway, the mech drove silently with a stasis locked symbiot who was down for repairs. While he drove, he plotted the closest course to, and now that Frenzy was here, he would be able to infiltrate the humans.

"Where is Soundwave?" Was Barricade's first question when he had found Frenzy to be awake and functional. He still looked bad, but it was an opportune time to get answers.

"Gone. Dead." was Frenzy's quick Cybertronian reply. He didn't know for certain, but he also didn't think Soundwave would survive the extent of damage he had sustained for longer than a day, so there was no sense in requesting assistance for him.

Well wasn't that just great. "Where?" the Shock Trooper asked.

"Unsure. Crashed near water. Connection terminated."

Barricade didn't ask more, there were more pressing needs to be attended to. He felt the symbiot crawl onto his floor where he proceeded to pull under the dash. After a few more tugs, he felt Frenzy's own systems trying to connect with him, hooking himself up in ways Barricade didn't know even existed. He didn't stop him, even if he could. Frenzy started to connect their inner circuitry as he had his original host, which made Barricade pull over so he didn't crash from the distraction. As Frenzy connected to him, Barricade felt the utmost invasion of his own privacy as the small one started to suck an even flow of energy from him. He was almost tempted to rip the little bot out of him. "What are you doing?"

"I need a new host," Frenzy said, some energy returning to him.

"What for?"

"Still require repairs," Frenzy told him, "insufficient energy to sustain,"

"Fine. I'm plotting a course to a plane called 'Air Force One' is the country's Aerial Intelligence. If we have any chance of getting their information, it will be there."

"How do you know?"

"This jet has a constant connection with that server. It's close by. Repair yourself until we get there." Barricade said, deciding on how to get Frenzy into the jet.

"How do I get in? I can't just jump in." Frenzy replied slightly annoyed. "Their security won't allow it,"

"Use your wits," Barricade growled in a very demeaning manner, causing the little Decepticon to shudder a moment. "Blackout failed at getting further information on Megatron's whereabouts," the hunter said, "Take on a form they will trust. Humans are stupid. Find something that can slip by their petty security,"

"Like what?" Frenzy asked as the cop car drove through a town, watching kids with stereo equipment.

"How about those things they call 'boom boxes'?" Barricade suggested as they came to a red light. "You can go on as… luggage," his voice turned sly.

"Fine," Was Frenzy's only replied before he saw one suitable and changed his body to form the one sitting in the Radio Shack window.

* * *

As tasked, Frenzy managed to sneak his way onto Air Force One, completely undetected, because, face it, who really is going to suspect a little boom box to turn into a robot from another planet?

He'd made his way to the mainframe computer in the jet and got all of the information he could possibly download, including the name of the person who had found Megatron and perhaps the Allspark. The name was Witwicky.

Barricade wasn't quite able to keep up with an actual jet, but he was waiting for it to come back down. Frenzy was to be covert, but if he was exposed, he was to kill on sight. Humans saw him and fired at him, forcing the large jet to land, and Barricade was able to arrive in time to pick up Frenzy once again.

Frenzy told him what he found and traced the name, finding the glasses were online by a teen nicknamed LadiesMan217. Getting what information they could, they found out his address and headed to find him. Frenzy, having successfully performed his mission, took some time to recharge while Barricade drove.


	4. An Alarming Call

A/N: _I know, I know, it's been a while. Life is crazy. My muse has returned and with it, I bring you this! :) Enjoy!_

* * *

More critical errors flashed through his mind, forcing him to shut them down one by one. He was running out of options since he'd already run out of hope. Secondary and emergency life support would be running out as well. His spark was finding it harder and harder to continue supplying the smaller ones inside him with precious power. With his systems dwindling, he could feel their starvation for life, and it brought on a wash of something he hadn't felt in so long. It was coming to the point he would either have to cut power to his symbiots, or die faster. He had already overridden them twice.

The priest had betrayed others many times. It was in his nature to deceive those who he did and did_ not_ work with. Even Megatron himself wasn't foolish enough to believe everything Soundwave said. Trickery was one of his best abilities because of his 'priest' status.

One thing was for certain as he lie here… he'd never been betrayed like this before. The only creatures he _truly_ trusted were the parasites or what he called 'symbiot mechs'. He gave them life if they worked for him, and the deal had been sealed. They depended on him and he was fine with that. He relied on their dependence on him, because they wouldn't betray him. He'd made the deal with selfish intentions.

However, as time went on and the longer they remained with him, Soundwave realized there was more to these parasites than what meets the eye, so to speak. They looked up to him and learned from him as if he were their fraternal mech. In a way, he'd become attached to them, even if that hadn't been his original intention, which led him into one of the most horrible experiences of his living reality.

While he lay, he considered how much he welcomed death right about now. The mech still felt the disconnection and frantic searching for Frenzy, even knowing he was gone.

* * *

"_Ah, we finally meet," The Seeker said as he leaned lazily over the desk, looking down at Soundwave's work. _

_The CO already had Starscream profiled, even though he hadn't spoken to him. He already knew the deceptive traits of the Air Commander. He already knew that Starscream thought he'd had him pegged, but he didn't really care what Starscream thought of him. "So my question is… why would Megatron want a priest? He certainly isn't stupid enough to worship the Dark Lord,"_

_Soundwave continued with the duty that had been set for him, not feeding into the Seeker's obvious ploy at distraction. It was simple filing, and other more tedious things, but once it was done, it was done and the more it occupied him, the less attention he had to give to the currently very annoying Seeker. _

_Feeling ignored, Starscream moved, making it so seeing his monitor would be difficult. "I am Starscream, Air Commander and Second in Command of the Decepticons – That means_ I _outrank _you _by the way_ –_ so, you must do what _I_ say," he announced with pride very unbecoming of him. _

_Soundwave stopped what he was doing since he could not see his screen and glared pointedly at Starscream. "Profile, Starscream: Second in Command for Megatron, Air Commander of the Seekers. Untrustworthy, egotistical, arrogant."_

_. Since the Seeker moved, Soundwave went back to his work and further refused to give the Seeker the attention he was trying for. _

_Starscream scrunched his face at Soundwave's supposed 'profiling'. He also didn't like the monotonous voice that came from the new recruit, "I supposed you take to speaking in such a manner because you know no different?" _

_Silence. _

"_Primus wouldn't ever allow one of his priests to do the things I've heard you've done. Are you a fake?"Starscream then glanced down seeing one of Soundwave's symbiots. He reached down and picked it up, "What in the name of Primus is _this_ thing? Get it out of here! It's too small to be of any use!"_

_Starscream would learn quickly that the last thing he could have done, was lay a claw on Soundwave's parasites. Before Starscream could drop it, Soundwave had already grabbed his arm. He yanked and turned the Seeker quickly, grabbing him by the neck and picked him up off of his feet, watching him squirm._

_Determined not to show the priest his fear, Starscream continued to goad him, "Megatron will hear of this!"_

_Silence._

_When the Air Commander couldn't get a rise out of him that way, he tried another. "Is it… the others' fear that gives you some form of twisted… pleasure and… that's why… you torture others unmercifully… priest?"_

_The priest remained silent, his claws slowly tightening on the Seeker's neck as he continued to ramble. _

_Starscream, determined as ever, continued, "Perhaps… you personally… enjoy… the agony you bring… onto others. Some… priest you… are…"_

_It was then that Megatron walked in. Starscream began flailing like an idiot, "M-Megatron! He attacked me!"_

_Megatron looked between the two and a malicious grin appeared on his features, "I see you have met our new Communications Officer. I would suppose it's already off to a lovely start too, Starscream. You're an idiot."_

_Starscream was at a loss for the fact his leader didn't seem to care that he was dangling in the hands of some new mech. "B-but aren't you gonna do something for this behavior?"_

"_You have obviously crossed a line… something ill advised. I could tell him to squeeze until your head is detached from your body," Megatron offered with a dark grin, "but unfortunately, I still have need of you." He nodded to Soundwave who simply dropped Starscream._

* * *

He no longer felt pain from his body, which to him, was a telltale sign that he didn't have much longer to go.

'_Frenzy…'_ What little thought process he had left, he used to think about him and where he had gone. If he could feel any emotion, it would probably be annoyance at himself for not being able to get the mech off of his mind and let him think about solutions, no matter how grim.

Perhaps death had finally come. He had heard that death brings with it all memories of everyone you ever knew and what role they were in your life. This one made another emotion wash over him, as if he was waking up from some sort of dream, so overwhelming was this emotion, that he screamed in silence because his processors were no longer in touch with his body.

Protocols that had since been erased and destroyed began returning. But it really didn't matter – he already considered his life as ended as there was no escape and no help anywhere around. More programs went down. His body was now completely without power and the only parts of him that remained alive was his spark and his mind and even that was rather questionable because of the memory-flashes.

This might end his existence sooner than he had previously thought. He needed the energy to get away from the Acidy water that rolled into the cave and over parts of his body when the tide came in, but he couldn't pull himself online enough to move. Days and nights became more and more, the bot didn't even seem to hardly come online at all, he started to fear the worst for the little ones inside of him.

Wait. He started to feel sorry? This wasn't like him. Maybe the time like this was making him go crazy.

Few days passed. Full systems check. Failures all over again, he could feel his spark wanting to extinguish, but this was more than just death to him. He had plenty of time to think about what was happening. What he'd done… His existence…

How could Starscream leave him like this? He felt it may have been his destiny, just as Megatron proclaimed his own over the universe so many times, and that he was so much denied by his enemies.

More erratic failures, he felt the whimpers of the ones inside of him, but there was nothing he could do. In some selfish way, he wished either he or they would just perish, because the agony was becoming as unbearable as the situation. He held life support to them as long as he could.

"Soon," He sent through their questionable internal link, "They will come," His voice nearly a whisper, "Megatron," Soundwave sent to the tiny bots within him, doing his best to calm them.

* * *

One night, days after the events at Mission City, while the giant lay dying, two teens happened across the sight of their life.

The first one had come back up from where he wanted to investigate pieces of metal that was strewn in the rocks below. "You gotta come see this. It looks like some big boat or something crashed under there, man,"

" Really?" a voice said as they knelt down to view what was hidden under a crack in the ground.

"Lookit, it's right there!" He started back down, "Come on, I'll show you,"

The second teen nodded and began making his way down the rocks to look as well.

* * *

External proximity sensors that still functioned tried to alert Soundwave of a possible threat. They pulled him from his almost death when he heard them. His busted HUD tried to get information automatically, even though he could not see anything. Through his half functioning audios, he could barely hear something that might have been language, but the static made it almost impossible to tell for sure.

He felt the tug of one of the symbiots inside him as if it may be dying. Soundwave started to feel... pity? No, that wasn't it. Compassion? No, not possible. He was a soldier, no time for compassion, all he knew was killing. Soundwave didn't want to feel this 'compassion'. He knew not where it came from, nor how to get rid of it. A part of him had already been lost when Frenzy ran from him.

* * *

"What the fuck!" Devin said harshly, his voice low as if it would disturb their find. "That's not a boat – what the hell is that?"

"Hell if I know," the other said as he climbed over torn metal.

As they made their way up further, they found not a boat, but a pile of metal that had… a head. They'd stumbled onto something huge – they knew. The first one saw a symbol on its would-be shoulder and rubbed away the bits of rust to reveal a symbol he'd never seen. It was an insignia – one they'd never seen. It was a pretty mean image of what he could only relate to a face. "This thing looks to be at least 50 feet,"

"50 foot? I doubt it, highly, what is it?"

"Hell if I know? I think it's one of those monsters that hit Mission City."

"We are too far," The voice came back, making his way down the side of the cliff, "Besides, I thought it was a plane crash?" Devin shot the kid a look as if to say 'you know better'.

Remnants of metal and other alloys were scattered about the area still. The sensor lay half out of the water. Metal scraped against metal as the waves hit them, but there was an even stranger metallic sound that came from beneath them. Similar to a vocal and metallic cry, it screeched.

"What in the hell!" both of the men jumped down to look at the silvery and purplish blue thing that was near dead inside the cave. They hadn't expected the sound at all, they had expected it to be dead, in which all terms of the word, it looked.

"What was that noise?" they both probed in further. The thing was certainly unaware of them, or so they thought.

Another scraping noise came from the hull of the behemoth that laid there. It was the cry and pitiful means of trying to escape. Rumble tried to transform, but was too weak to perform it completely, which is why the kids heard it cry out.

"Whoa, dude, you sure that thing is dead?"

"Yeah, it doesn't look like it's moved in a long while," Danny quipped, pointing to the rust and other damage, "Look at it!"

"What was that sound, then, smartass?" Devin asked half heartedly.

Danny only shrugged and got ever closer to the dangerous mech that lay there, unaware of who it was, or what it was, "You know, maybe we should contact the right authorities. Maybe they will know what to do with it."

"This is too weird, yeah, we should call them. But who? Think we should call the FBI? CIA?"

"Maybe. I don't know who handles giant machines like this," he replied just as quick.

* * *

They had gotten the call from Sec Def Keller not long after the teens had called the FBI. Optimus was already tired of talking to the US Government, no matter how much they were trying to help, they were getting downright annoying, but he didn't have it in him to tell them they didn't want to be bothered.

"That's it! I can't take it anymore!"

"Take what?" came a dry and un-amused reply.

"The humans constantly calling on our communications! Can I shoot it, please?"

"No,"

"But… it'll make me happy…"

"No."

"Just one small shot,"

"No,"

The black mech frowned over at the medic, who was giving him a no-nonsense look, "Come on, 'Ratch, It's only the communications. I won't hit any humans."

"Ironhide," the medic turned from watching Bumblebee and Sam, having decided the weapon specialist was out of his processor, "Blowing up the phone companies is _not_ an option."

"It was only the one…" the black mech muttered in disappointment and started to walk off. "The one this Keller human keeps calling from," He thought Optimus was just too kind sometimes.

"That's what they have _cell phones_ for," the medic quipped, watching Ironhide leave.

"Shut up!" There was an extra hard stomp and a growl as Ironhide made his way to the opposite side of the building. It wasn't all that far, since it was, to him, a shack in the middle of nowhere. Optimus had told them that they were to stay here – wherever _here_ was – until Keller had secured them a better place.

Optimus considered that since they were so new to the planet, they were the talk of the government anyways and to appease them, he was generous in speaking with them no matter how many times they called and how frivolous the calls were.

This call, he swore would be the 15th call in under 6 hours. He figured it was no different, and he let out what could only be considered a sigh with a roll of his optics. Having just gotten off of the phone with Secretary Keller not 15 minutes prior about getting each Autobot registered in the Driver's Bureau so they were 'legal' should a cop decide to run their plates – Something he refused to do because of the implications, he answered.

_"Yes Secretary, what can I do for you?"_ He asked, just as calm and collected as could be.

John Keller wasn't quite positive how to start the conversation that he now had to hold with the Autobot leader. He collected himself and face palmed before speaking, _"Optimus, sir, I hate to bother you again, but it seems that we just got an anonymous phone call that was forwarded to us from the FBI. They reported to me that there was a supposed 'giant robot' found off the coast of California, and we brought the witnesses in for questioning. They gave their full statement and were shut up."_

Hope rose in Optimus' voice that another Autobot may have arrived, _"Another Cybertronian? Is it an Autobot, do you know?"_

However, the answer was not what Optimus had hoped. _"Turns out it's not sir,"_ Keller held his breath a moment, staring out the window that adorned his office, He took little notice of the incoming dark clouds, _"By the witness' description and an artist rendering, we believe it's one of the other ones – a Decepticon."_

* * *

_So there you have it... another chapter! There's prolly errors, which I will fix later.  
_


	5. Unexpected Discovery

A/N: _I know, so quick of an update? Well let's see how this one goes :D_

* * *

_From even before the wars, Soundwave was interesting to Megatron. He'd seen him operate the Allspark in many different ways and use his tendril like protrusions to connect with it. Megatron, being the High Protector of the Allspark, had asked to meet the mech personally. "So, I take it you're a priest?"_

"_Affirmative," Soundwave responded, his optics busy somewhere else and not on Megatron._

"_I've heard some despicable things about you, Soundwave. What kind of priest are you exactly?"_

_At that, he turned. Soundwave's visor flashed and his optics followed the Decepticon leader as he paced. "I am an Allspark priest, Lord High Protector."_

"_I could certainly use someone like you by my side,"_

"_There are no sides you speak of,"_

'Not yet,'_ Megatron gave Soundwave a sly grin. When his plans go as he hopes, Soundwave wouldn't have a choice in the matter. "Very well, priest, you've answered all I wish to know right now, thank you." and he waved the mech off._

_Soundwave left with a suspicious feeling but shrugged it off as nothing._

* * *

They hadn't been aware anyone else had made landfall. The Autobots knew of at least four Decepticons that were unaccounted for since the drop in the Laurentian Abyss, but none that had obviously crashed. Their names were Starscream, the Decepticon Air Commander, Barricade, Megatron's wicked hunter, Scorponok, which no one had seen since his tail was shot off in the desert and Frenzy, who had mysteriously disappeared from Hoover Dam following the events at Mission City.

The last thing they needed was another Decepticon to deal with. Optimus felt the sudden dread follow, fearing for the lives of the humans in the area that the Decepticon was found. His optics shuttered and focus more on the wall than anything else, and he almost didn't hear Keller finish his sentence.

"_-and I quote 'it was the monster robot from hell'."_ Keller finished unenthused. Frankly, to him, they all looked like giant robots from hell – only the Autobot side was apparently the good side.

Judging from that news, Optimus figured it was still alive. He needed to get to it before any harm came to the humans in the area. _"Did it speak to them at all that you know of?" _Optimus asked; worried about the humans who had come in direct contact with it.

_"Apparently not,"_ the man replied, just as worried, _"but they did say it made sounds. When asked to describe the sound, they said it was like an organ that had all the high-pitched keys hit at the same time. One of them also claims that they saw slight movement._

"_The teenagers also pointed out what they found near the site, which they described as a 'very large futuristic weapon' that was smashed in the rocks. Neither touched it from what they say," _

Optimus stared at the wall a bit longer, at the same time he had opened a line for his fellow Autobots, calling them to the grounds where they were temporarily stationed. The leader thought a moment. A barrel isn't going to tell them anything of what Decepticon they might have found since technically all of their weaponry was 'futuristic', _"What about features?"_

"_I can send you the artist's rendering,"_ John offered.

"_Yes, please do," _Prime replied, able to view as if sent as any other regular image on the net. It took a moment for the image to transfer through and Optimus to look at it. In all actuality, he wasn't sure he even recognized the mech – or someone didn't know how to draw.

The image showed two legs, a large chest area, broken what appeared to be lights down two arms, and its face was half covered. Other than the covered face, there was nothing else distinctive about this mech.

"_The area is being evacuated right now on the grounds of a radiation leak,"_ he heard Keller ramble on. Technically, it wasn't a lie._ "I trust you'll have someone out there as soon as possible?"_

"_I am sending Ironhide and Ratchet out to investigate."_ The Autobot replied. _"They will have William Lennox and Robert Epps with them to assist with any human interaction,"_

"_Very well, and Optimus, please, just call me John,"_ Deciding that they would probably be working together more often than not, he decided formalities really weren't needed any longer.

Optimus paused, still unsure about the informalities, he then finished, _"John."_

Optimus gave a glance towards Ironhide and Ratchet as they were pulling in, Bumblebee in tow, _"We all know how dangerous a Decepticon can be,"_ he paused, _"And not knowing who it is makes this a very touchy situation."_

the Secretary took his phone away from his ear and covered it as someone knocked on the door. _ "One moment,"_ he told the Autobot and looked up to grant them entrance. It was his own secretary.

"Secretary, sir, I have just been informed that your quarantine is in place,"

John nodded to her and sent her on her way, then lifted the phone back to his ear, _"Optimus, I just received word that the area is now under quarantine. It is completely safe for your men to move in without being seen."_

Ironhide and Ratchet were dispatched not long afterwards with Will and Robert Epps. The two humans, who were stationed not far away from the Autobots, had been picked up by the two on the way. After dealing with those in power about the Cybertronians, Will and Robert were both requested by the President himself to be Military advisors between the Autobots and government. The Autobots had their word in as well and also requested the two humans. Will still hadn't really had the time to sit back and talk to Sarah about it. Robert was all for it.

* * *

Mikaela and Sam refused to go back home unless it was to get a quick shower and a change of clothes at first. They just could not get over what they were involved with and both were still highly fascinated with their new friends. It became quickly obvious that Bumblebee would be spending his time with Sam away from the rest of his team more often than the others.

Bumblebee and Optimus remained at the base, along with Sam and Mikaela, for the children's safety. The men would have an easier time dealing with the cretin since they had more experience in using the Sabot rounds that were loaded into Ironhide and Ratchet as handheld missile launchers. Since there was no designation of the Decepticon that was totaled, the Autobot's guess was as good as the humans, and that made this mission especially dangerous.

Bee and Sam both protested against being stuck at the base while the others went to investigate. The leader felt kinda bad making Sam, Mikaela and Bee stay back, but he knew better. He knew what Decepticons were capable of on Cybertron, let alone them possibly getting their claws on the humans.

"But Optimus, what if they need us? What if the bot is playing possum or something?" Sam started, trying to reason why they should have been allowed to go.

"Decepticons don't play, Sam," Of course, their newness was still making English hard to fully understand.

"No, no, no, Optimus, I mean that they could be lying still, pretending to be down and then pounce on Ironhide and Ratchet when they arrive,"

"I believe that is not the case, Sam, I have spoken to Secretary Keller about this and the statement he got from the witnesses was that the Decepticon was mangled pretty badly. As if he had wrecked. But that doesn't mean he won't try something on you if he gets the chance."

"See! That's why they will need us!"

"No, he's right, Sam," Mikaela nodded to Optimus, understand his worry. She hated it just as much as Sam and Bumblebee, but there was no use arguing, and it's not like they could run away to get there.

"Thank you Mikaela."

Bee and Sam both scoffed at her, but it was Sam who actually said something. "Suck up," he spat and stuck his tongue out at her. Bee, not really knowing much different, did the same thing basically, flittering his doors at her. "Come on, 'Bee, let's go find some sand to play with," the teen said dejectedly.

Optimus only raised an optic ridge at the scout as he strode off behind Sam.

On the trip, Will and Rob were filled in on their mission. To retrieve a large Decepticon. "You think that it's that Starscream guy?" Will asked, hearing the name of the one that turned into a fighter jet.

"It very well could be. No other Decepticons or Autobots were said to have made landfall." Ratchet replied, as they moved through traffic, his lights and sirens blazing as he got closer.

"Yeah, but didn't you guys say that he ran with his tail tucked between his legs?" Robert asked, being the rider in Ironhide for the moment.

"Starscream... doesn't have a tail," Ironhide cut in, his voice unsure what Rob was referring to.

"It's an expression…" Will quickly told him, "It means that he ran away defeated or scared…" The comm. systems were on, making it possible for everyone to talk and everyone to be heard. Epps was just as curious as William had been so it was no wonder he spoke up asking questions also.

"He did, but that doesn't mean some force made him crash," Ironhide interjected.

"I guess we see when we get there, then, eh?" Rob gave a chuckle.

* * *

They found the area at least a 1/3 mile cordoned, making traffic back up, and causing rubber necks to want to know what had caused the sudden cordon off such a radius. The area was well protected by military and police alike.

Two that had known about the Autobots were there also. They recognized Lennox and Epps immediately, "Hey! Over here!" Called one of them, the other walking up behind the first. They both wore plain clothes, but on their shirts were IDs. William nodded as they approached the Search and Rescue Hummer, "I saw that thing for myself, man, it's huge!" Darren said, leaning on the side of the hummer slightly.

Ironhide had pulled up beside Ratchet, Epps was sitting in his passenger seat, leaning out the window to greet the men, "Hey, hey, how's it going Charlie? Darren."

"Going good. Got ourselves quite the catch," Charlie nodded. "I think we'll need a tractor trailer to get it out of here."

Epps and Lennox looked at each other across the cars and then out where the crash had supposedly taken place. So it was large. Starscream was large.

"Mind if we tag along?" Charlie asked, tapping Ironhide's hood a bit. The engine revved in response.

"Actually, it's best you hang back here. We don't know who we are dealing with yet," Will said.

The Autobots slowly made their ways to the Decepticon. When they got closer, Ratchet was already doing preliminary readings and only a gasp was heard from him when he assessed the Decepticon beneath him. "Primus," he spoke in almost a whisper. The CMO pulled closer, allowing William to step out before he glanced around, seeing no one and transformed so he could correctly assess the situation.

"What is it?" Ironhide asked, pulling up beside him.

"It's a wonder there's still a spark signature," Ratchet mumbled, more and more amazed at his findings. "it's very faint, but it's there,"

As he walked along the cliff, he noted that the water was strewn with what appeared to be metal and other alloys, a lot of them, upon investigation had been found to be Cybertronian in origin. Curious of who was below them, he began to climb down. . The medic moved to the side of the cliff, measuring the distance he leapt down, the ground beneath him shaking and the water splashing up at his body. With a groan in annoyance from the salt water, he continued to peer around for any other hints at the wreckage.

"Hey, big guy," Will called out, getting the CMO's attention from where he was sifting through the water and rocks, "What are you going to do with it?"

Ratchet was already busy picking up strewn metal and random parts from just around his feet. Looking up and starting for the ledge with an armful of metal, presumably armor, he hadn't answered right away, still unsure of what to say.

The medic backed up, his optics went back to where the body was apparently hiding, and he pointed up to the weapon specialist from below, "You are to stay up here. Any slight disturbance, _especially_ from the likes of you could kill him and then we will have no answers."

"My aft I am staying up here," Ironhide groused, glaring at the medic for even thinking about going down by himself, "It's a 'Con! I want to put that monster out of commission for the rest of his natural and _un_-natural life."

"And that's _exactly_ why I order you stay up there!" Ratchet said sternly, getting a snort from Ironhide.

The medic waded through and over the rough water's edge. It was getting dark and things would soon be hard to see. Grabbing at some of the armor, he found and lifted what appeared to be a shoulder-mounted Radio Wave sensor. Very few mechs used this particular weapon. In fact, so few used it that Ratchet stilled for a moment, already realizing whom this belonged to. He quickly dropped it, panic setting in.

"I think I know who it is, Ironhide," Ratchet called up. His voice was strangely concerned.

"Who?"

"I'll need to get into the cave to be sure," the medic replied. He still hadn't left out the hope that this was not who he thought it was. Shining lights toward the entrance, he peeked and had to move back when he saw the horror. The mech's body was mangled almost beyond recognition, which was a very gruesome sight.

Ironhide above saw Ratchet move quickly and he leaned down, "Hey, everything all right?"

Ratchet shooed him away with his hand and stepped into the mouth of the cave, dreading what he might find, yet in some sadistic way, happy it might be the end of a terrible Decepticon. He walked his way past the larger body, seeing the true extent of the damage and then he got to the chest. Could it be? No, impossible. _Soundwave_ – above all – doesn't wind up in some cave barely alive. The yellowish mech stepped closer. His spark lurched, as he felt he already knew who it was. Whether it was hope or morbid curiosity, Ratchet pointed his lights toward the head of the mech and that was when he knew. Sure enough, it was him. In some weird way, he was actually expecting Soundwave to sit up and shoot him even though the notion was illogical because of the officer's condition.

"I have confirmed identification," He said out loud, knowing Ironhide would hear him. "Because of his degraded condition, I'm taking him back to the shack." With that, the medic headed out to figure a way to get the Decepticon out as well.

"Who is it?" Ironhide demanded.

Robert stepped slightly toward the edge, seeing the back of the CMO as he was coming out. "Are you sure, man?" He asked with doubt, "It is a 'Con, right? Why would you save a 'Con?"

Ratchet looked up, spotting the dirty look from Ironhide but ignoring him to answer Robert, "He isn't just any Decepticon, Robert. He's one of the most wanted Decepticons to ever live besides Megatron himself… And now…" The medic looked back to the cave, "we have him." Even if it wasn't much, and he might not be able to save him, at least he knew he wouldn't cause any more problems. He turned his attention to Ironhide, "Let Prime know we will be on our way with Soundwave,"

Ironhide scowled at Ratchet, not liking his idea one bit. "Why would you want to?"

"He's so near death that I might not be able to save him anyway, but if I can, he will be severely debilitated, therefore if we have questions, he'll give answers."

"You're out of your mind! There's no way I'm going to let you take him back to the shack, Ratchet! Kill him!" Ironhide grew angry. His cannons rose and he pointed below him and his voice grew nasty, "Or I _will_…"

Ratchet froze.

* * *

_So they've discovered who they have found. Now what? Certainly hope this version is going better than the last!_


	6. Recovery

**A/N:**_ Took longer than expected. Surprise kinda took my muse by surprise - so I've been thinking a lot on that :P_

* * *

Even Soundwave himself was able to be brainwashed, only, in time, it managed to backfire in different ways, thus making Soundwave much more dangerous than he previously had been. When one has no emotions to go by, anything is possible from them.

He was Megatron's Communication Specialist, and his healer, with good reason. He had extremely unique and powerful abilities about him, which also made him a threat to everyone around him. Some said he was a dark Priest doing the bidding for Unicron and Soundwave never gave them the satisfaction of an answer.

The Priest had strange abilities to utilize all sorts of waves that very few other Decepticons or Autobots could. He was also able to produce Trans-sonic vibrations and other just as if not more powerful sound waves, hence where he got his name. Some believed this was how he uniquely interacted with the Allspark but no one really knew the extent of his abilities.

The longer he was under Megatron's command, the more Autobots and Decepticons alike learned of what he could do and _would_ do if ordered to do so and that's why they feared him. It was because of neither his rank nor his title, but because of other unsaid abilities like messing with ones' mind, or sensing things on a higher extrasensory level that very little other Autobot or Decepticon could. He'd gone from a no-name Allspark priest to one of the most devastating and wicked Decepticons to ever live. Megatron had utilized him in a completely different and more menacing manner.

* * *

_Back at the cliffs…_

Before Ironhide could make another move, he heard the wind up of another weapon. It was Ratchet's, which was aimed right at him in a critical place near his hip – Damn the medics for knowing so much about one's anatomy. He also knew Ratchet was very good with his aim and he would not miss his target. The black mech froze; surprised that Ratchet would pull his own weapon on him, _defending_ a Decepticon.

"Are you _mad_?" the black mech asked harshly. "What's gotten into you, Ratchet? It's a slagging Decepticon!"

"Stand down, Ironhide." Ratchet then spoke, watching the Weapon Specialist. His voice was calm and his optics never left the mech. He knew that look in his optic and knew damned well if he couldn't quell him, Ironhide would shoot and Ratchet's case would be over.

Will stood up, holding his hands up. He really didn't want these two fighting at a time like this, "Guys, guys, can't this wait?" However, some customs still needed to be learned by both. "I mean… we can't hold up traffic forever here,"

Ratchet used the moment Ironhide, interrupted by Will, looked down and fired a shot at the distracted black mech. The shot hit the Ironhide in the leg in such a way he went to his knees quickly, hissing in pain. "Damn you old timer!"

Will stepped back; now completely sure he didn't want to be involved in their disputes. Ratchet was scowling at Ironhide, who was growling in pain, "Thank you, Will," the medic said gently, not even looking at him. "We take him back on _my_ orders. That is final." Ratchet stated as his weapon disappeared into his hand. "Am I understood?"

"Prime will hear of this!" Ironhide snarled.

"I'll take full responsibility, now in the mean time; help me get him up there." Ratchet ordered.

Will watched as Ironhide stood back up and started to go down the cliff spatting off things in sounds he could only guess was their actual language. He wanted to ask what the hell had happened, but he wasn't sure now was the time. With a glance at Epps, who only shrugged, Will decided waiting until Ironhide calmed down seemed to be the thing to do.

* * *

Even though external proximity sensors were trying to warn him of danger, he could not tell because his system was so damaged. The silent and deaf Decepticon had no idea he lay at the mercy of the humans and Autobots that were now surrounding him.

He did not know what death was like, though he knew he'd come close to it before. Of course, for all he knew, he was already dead. He recollected his processors going into sleep mode countless times while he lay here and he had no idea how long he was asleep for… or if he ever woke back up.

If he was conscious during death there was one thing that stood out among anything, and that was the black vastness of absolutely nothing. A void.

* * *

Sam was with Mikaela listening to music via Bumblebee's radio outside of the 'shack' while waiting to hear about what was happening with Will and Rob. Now that the scout could talk, there was no need for Bumblebee to speak with his radio, which was great relief for Sam because some of what Bumblebee came out with was more like riddles – and he wasn't all that fond of riddles.

He looked down at the bandage on his right arm. The itch was beginning again. It was the healing itch – or at least that was what it was supposed to be. He'd learned that aloe soothed it best.

It was also something he hadn't told anyone about. True, there was a real injury there from the battle at Mission City, but since then, it started to look different. He had begun to care for the wound himself, and not in front of anyone else – even Mikaela. It hadn't gotten any redder and it seemed to be healing, but he was unsure what to say about the strangely straight black lines coming from all directions of it.

If it kept up, there's no doubt it would no longer be a secret. Sleeves only covered so much and anyone would get suspicious of someone wearing long sleeves in Nevada in the summer. With a rub over his arm, he looked up, "So hey, 'Bee, you feel up to taking me home so I can get a shower and stuff?"

"I could use one as well," Mikaela added, looking down at herself with a frown. She hadn't showered in a day or so and she swore the dust in the desert deliberately stuck to her.

"I'll speak to Optimus about it," Bumblebee replied with a nod. He was concerned for Ironhide and Ratchet, along with the humans with them and he really didn't want to leave just yet. When they were back, then it was a different story.

* * *

A flatbed semi pulled up in front of a Fire Rescue Hummer and a Topkick sitting next to the cliff's edge. It was equipped with a pulley system originally designed for hauling other trucks, so there would be no problem pulling Soundwave up and from the cave with assistance. The driver was sent on his way in a cab with no explanation giving the Autobots the chance to turn back into their root forms and get the Decepticon away from prying eyes and into their custody.

Thoughts ran rampant wondering how such a mech as Soundwave ended up crashed in the ocean and torn up like this and Ratchet considered foul play by Starscream and one of his cronies.

Ratchet and Ironhide both jumped down and reached for parts of the priest that were still salvageable. "I can't believe you want to take one of the most dangerous Decepticons back to the shack." Ironhide grumbled, very unhappy about Ratchet's decision. "What if he attacks us?"

Ratchet gave Ironhide a raised optic ridge, "Do you honestly think he can? Really? I would love to know how since I'm the medic and I know his condition best. He cannot see, nor hear, nor feel as far as I can tell. Now help me get him on the trailer."

Ironhide grumbled something else and then they took on the tedious task of getting Soundwave out of the cave without harming him too much more, though some scrapes were bound to happen.

* * *

He felt the sensation of pain – or what he perceived to be pain. It wasn't pain like he'd ever experienced, more like an echo in his mind. It was strange because there was no point of origin like one would suspect from pain. It was illogical. Some sensations hurt more than others and they felt like they wanted to be placed, but he did not know where the pain belonged. He did not know why he was feeling it and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it either.

As quickly as it had come, it vanished again.

* * *

Since Soundwave was larger, it took some effort to get him out and unharmed, but once they did, they both got a good look at him. "What in the pit happened to him?" It was sickening.

"He crashed… obviously." Ratchet snapped. In all honesty, that was what he'd surmised, even if foul play was involved. Until he got Soundwave under proper lighting and got a good look, it was the only thing he was 98% sure of. The fact Soundwave had even crashed was an oddity in itself.

Ironhide gave Ratchet an annoyed glare, "Perhaps he zigged when he should have zagged,"

"Do you ever know Soundwave to do such a thing?" Ratchet, no longer interested in Ironhide's babble began working to give the Decepticon a store of energon that he keeps on himself at all times. By the looks of the CO, Ratchet actually had his doubts the mech would survive the trip back to their shack.

Robert operated the trailer after getting the truck in the best position. The end of the trailer lifted and then straightened, then lowered, making a ramp. Taking chains from the trailer, Ratchet and Ironhide wrapped them around Soundwave to use the trailer to assist them in getting him up over the cliff. Using the pulleys from the trailer, the two Autobots got Soundwave onto it with minimal damage.

"Lock him down tight, I'm going to grab the rest of what I can from down here," Ratchet said, seeing more metal strewn around.

The Decepticon was set with his head toward the tractor while his feet dangled off the edge. Ironhide assisted William and Robert in making sure the mech was secure. At that time, they started to cover him over. Epps was the one who decided to drive the truck and after all of Soundwave's parts they could find were loaded, they were quickly on their way.

Ratchet decided he remain on the trailer covered with his patient while Ironhide stayed in front of the 'oversize load' while traveling.

After a few minutes on the road, Ratchet groaned when he realized Soundwave's internals were pretty badly beaten up as well. He fought through tarps that were blowing in the wind and stabbed several needles into the Decepticon's energon lines, each injection something a little different from before, helping the near-death Decepticon regain lost fluids besides just energon for the time being. If anything, he might be able to jump-start his auto-repair sequence, which seemed to be completely destroyed. He also began to get stronger readings of 4 sparks within the larger mech's chassis. It would have to wait until they got back to the shack to know the real extent of Soundwave's damage – and the damage of his parasites.

Keeping constant readings on the status of the 'Con while he worked, he was amazed at the fact he was still alive with all the damage he sustained. All he could think about was that he was going to be busy for a very long time because they had no real place for him to work on a patient, which meant he would be putting his knowledge of fieldwork to the test.

Soundwave felt a boost of something, but he didn't know what it was. It was as if he'd gone completely stupid, but he knew he was not. Unbeknownst to him, because of Ratchet's care, the four within him immediately began to suck what energy was being fed to them and they grew a little stronger. The priest was generous in his sharing; obviously knowing their energy was depleted. He wondered where the energy was coming from and if it would end.

* * *

"_It isn't about who kills who, it's about who gets what…" the Seeker voice said in a hush-hush tone, "Megatron has obviously failed at retrieving the Allspark, so I suppose I will take a team and get it done right,"_

"_How do you plan to succeed?"Another asked in the same tone._

"_It's simple… the only drawback is I will need that nefarious Soundwave with me."_

"_You know if he finds Megatron still alive it's game over for you. He'll rat you out."_

"_Perhaps I can find a way to get rid of him as well."_

"_That's suicide. Besides, he's the only one left who can operate the Allspark."_

"_There's ways around that, I assure you…" There was a cackle, obviously Starscream's._

_Soundwave, who'd been standing in earshot, silently walked off. He'd heard enough._

* * *

The man had flown in specifically to speak to Optimus Prime. He could tell that Optimus was becoming annoyed with so much talking, but he wanted to hurry up and get things done, therefore they could all have some peace.

In the middle of speaking to Secretary Keller personally, a blip on Optimus' communications got his attention and he opened the line, _"Ratchet," _he answered, _"how is the mission?"_

With a glare in Ironhide's direction, Ratchet responded,_ "It was… Successful. I wish to inform you that I am bringing in a severely wounded Decepticon."_

"_What?"_ Optimus held his hand up as a silent 'hold on a minute' to the human as he continued to speak to Ratchet, _"Do you have a positive identification?"_

Ironhide interrupted the two, _"It's that creep, _Soundwave_,"_

Silence filled the comm. system for a moment. Optimus needed a moment to grasp that. _"…Soundwave?"_ he asked in hesitation. Since when did Soundwave crash?

"_The one and only," _

Ironhide's voice pulled the Autobot leader from his hesitation._ "He was one of the most devastating Decepticons on Cybertron, why would you want to endanger us and the humans by bringing him here?"_

There was a blip as if Ratchet was going to say something then he hesitated a moment, but going by his oath as a medic, he stuck up for what he felt was strangely right._ "Sir, I have reason to believe he won't be of any nuisance. He is a code 6. I am still summing up the damage and I am very surprised to find his spark online just by what I have found so far. Also, four symbiots were also counted. Their Sparks may extinguish before we get there."_

"_That might explain why Frenzy was with Barricade,"_ Optimus noted.

"_I've done what I can on the move so at least Soundwave should remain alive until we get there."_The medic returned.

"_Very well,"_ Optimus sighed before looking back at Keller, "Mr. Keller, I have just been informed that the Decepticon will be brought here."

"What? Why not bury it with the rest?" The Secretary asked irritated. He could only imagine the hell the Decepticon could cause.

"The Decepticon was found alive. He requires emergency care by Ratchet if his life is to be saved. He will be of no harm to us." Optimus assured, trusting his medic. Even _he_ was unsure of Ratchet's motives, but he knew he would not put anyone in immediate danger.

John gave a questioning nod, "Why would you keep him alive?"

"He has answers to some of our questions,"

Another nod as though he didn't even want to know. "Optimus, I also wanted to tell you that we found you a base." He looked the giant in the optic, "It's Near a less populated area," he started, thinking of the right place to say, "it's an old abandoned warehouse with a lot of empty land. It may not be the best, but it's a place to start. I am positive it will fit you all and then some, and it will be ready for you and your team promptly."

"That is very kind of you, Mr. Keller,"

"It's the least we can do for your help to save our city – our planet." Keller said with a smile, "If you wish, we can head there now. It's not far from Tranquility, so you will still be on contact with your friends."

Optimus immediately sent the coordinates of the place to Ratchet.

* * *

Ironhide kept in front of the truck talking to Will about how absurd Ratchet was for even _letting_ the atrocity known as Soundwave live, "He's Megatron's Right-Hand Mech… he tortured so many Autobots – Other Decepticons too. He's done so many things, there isn't a word for how evil he is." the mech growled angrily. "He gets into your mind and destroys you from the inside out… And he's supposed to be a _priest_!"

"A priest?" Will asked, a little confused how someone described so evil was a _priest_. "I thought priests were all holy and such? Do you guys have like… 'dark priests' or something?"

"No. He's an Allspark priest."

"What's that?"

"Before the wars he worked with it. He was one of the few who were allowed around it just for that purpose. He has modified systems to allow intimate interaction. Without the Allspark priests, the Allspark itself could have wilted away. It's a long story." Ironhide considered what Allspark priests were for and gave an internal, sad sigh that they would never be needed again. "It doesn't matter. Not anymore…" He then grew angry again, shoving the sadness away, "There is _no_ reason to let that mech live, priest or _not_. He is especially of no use since the Allspark is gone."

"_While you've been busy growling about this and that, I have new coordinates from Optimus for you,"_ Ratchet's voice broke into the truck, startling Will.

* * *

_Hope it was worth the wait :)_


	7. The Plot Thickens

**A/N**:_ I probably would have had this up sooner if I hadn't had to get a new computer and then replace it a week later... Sorry for the wait! Hope it's worth it! _

* * *

"_You understand then, why I chose you to be with me as I lead the Decepticons to glory,"_

_He never agreed to this. What had happened to the Lord High protector? Megatron knew how the few priests worked with the Allspark. Perhaps he needed his processors checked by a medic before something real bad happened. "It cannot happen the way you want-" Megatron was out of control. He should have known that his plan was bunk. _

"_Don't try to tell me!" Megatron growled angrily, only hearing that Soundwave was shutting him down from his plan, not hearing the logic of the priest telling him what he was planning was literally not possible. "When I get my hands on the cube, you will do my bidding with it!" _

_Soundwave backed up. This was madness! Unfortunately, Megatron saw him turn to beat a hasty retreat and yelled, "Decepticons! Grab him! Don't let him get away!"_

_It didn't take long for Soundwave to be surrounded and outmatched. The Lord High Protector approached the priest and sneered as he got right into his face, "You'll do well to abide by what I say from here on out. I know what makes you tick_, priest_."_

_The last thing he remembered was what felt like a shot to his head and he was being pulled away, he'd been disabled… He was neutral until that point. _

_The darkness started not long after he'd been put to sleep. One might say he was a zombie, monotonous drone and all. From that darkness, a creature with a deadly, emotionless streak emerged and took his place._

* * *

Light years away from Earth, Starscream had finally started his approach to Cybertron after a long and tiring trip. No one said it was easy flying in space – especially at his speed. Cybertron wasn't the farthest away, but it also wasn't the closest to the puny planet the natives called Earth. So, in all, Starscream was exhausted and his reserves were low. When he finally touched down, he walked slowly towards the Decepticon headquarters in Kaon, where Shockwave and other officers were surely to be found.

He had a plan, and one included going back to Earth to kill the humans and mine the intriguingly large Energon deposits. He only noticed them on his way out. The other plan, which he wished to take care of first, was name himself Megatron's successor. He leaned on the doorway as it opened and gave Shockwave a look of disgust.

"Starscream!" The mech stopped mid-stride in surprise upon seeing him… so soon.

"Hello, Shockwave,"

"What are you doing back here? Your mission was to find Megatron and the cube!"

Starscream pushed his way off the threshold and meandered towards an energon dispenser, all the while giving Shockwave a dirty look. He then gave a cunning grin, "To answer your question; unfortunately, Megatron was killed. So, I suppose it was a partial success." He then shrugged as if it were nothing. "The Autobots knew the cube was there too."

"Partial success? What are you talking about? You're lying!"

"Am I?" The seeker snapped. He then held out his arms and looked around, "Do you _see_ Megatron anywhere with that enormous optic of yours?"

"Perhaps he remained on that planet-"

"Wrong." Starscream interrupted sneeringly, "He was killed _with_ the cube. So that's gone too, hence the _partial_ success,"

"Why those no good dirty rotten Autobots-!" Shockwave started with a furious hiss.

Starscream held his hand up, interrupting him, "Ah, ah, ah… Since he was killed, I am assuming command, Shockwave. We need to get all of the Decepticons together to go back to the planet and eradicate the insects for destroying the cube."

"Who killed him, anyways?" Asked Thundercracker, who was lazily leaning on a wall not far off, "I bet it was Prime,"

The silver seeker abruptly glared in Thundercracker's direction, "Actually, it was one of the native insects that did it. An Autobot sympathizer." Starscream spat with frustration.

"What of everyone you brought with you?"

"They're all dead except Barricade, and Primus only knows where he ran off to. Blackout was killed and Skorponok was separated, so I have no idea about him. He disappeared shortly after he took on a group of humans in the area they call Qatar. Frenzy I heard was killed by his own weapon, the idiot."

Shockwave let out what could only be understood as a sigh, "Send a bunch of mercenaries and you lose the entire battle."

"I am the Air Commander of the Seekers, and the new leader of the Decepticons, and you will do well to address me as such, _Shockwave_," Starscream announced, "and since I am assuming command, my first order as the new leader of the Decepticons is to rally everyone and be ready to depart very soon. We have no time to lose. Those Autobots have befriended the fleshbags, and the one who killed Megatron. That planet has a substantial energon deposit for its size," Starscream downed his energon and walked past them all.

Shockwave gave a disgruntled look to Starscream, "Why should we follow you, anyways? It's Illogical. You're not half the leader that Megatron was."

"Because _I_ know where they put the old dolt," The seeker gave a grin, "They obviously didn't see me hanging around so close. The planet's at a disadvantage because of their lack in technology."

Shockwave's antennae twitched. Starscream had a point, "What of Soundwave? If there is any chance on getting Megatron back-"

"You cannot not revive him," Starscream interrupted with a smirk, "Soundwave had an _unfortunate_… accident. Confirmed dead by Frenzy. So, you see,_ he_ will not be joining us either."

Others that heard Starscream looked over at him with stunned expressions.

He still couldn't believe his audios. Starscream had to be lying, and sadly enough he was so good at it that no one knew the difference. "Megatron _and_ Soundwave both dead? It's illogical, Starscream."

"Illogical; perhaps, impossible; certainly not," Starscream sarcastically replied.

"_You_ don't possess the skills to lead the Decepticons. With your recent failure, I wouldn't be surprised if you got exiled to Charr." Shockwave had hit a nerve, "Admit it. The most you could lead the Decepticons to is more failure."

"I have more than what you have, Shockwave. Either you follow me, or die!" Starscream raised his right arm, his arm shifting into a cannon, but not the kind he used on earth, this one looked more outfitted with a long barrel, and 4 different glowing lines ran down the barrel to the tip where it focused into one beam. His Null Ray. "I was Second in Command at the time of Megatron's demise, so that makes me leader, council or not." The seeker hissed darkly before abruptly turning and leaving.

* * *

Back on Earth, where the Autobots had saved Soundwave, the truck pulled up to the area Ratchet had led the load and Ironhide. It was quite a bit larger than the previous place and had more buildings around. Ratchet had found Optimus in one of the buildings where he could stand un-inhibited.

He quickly scouted a spot and tapped the trailer before leaping off. He waved the truck in his direction, where he was pointing to a hanger. This one would give him the space he would need to work on Soundwave. He would need Bumblebee and his new human friends to get supplies he could substitute as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sam watched Bumblebee pull away from his house with Mikaela. She had mentioned she wanted to go home and return with Bumblebee to their new base. Sam was fine with that when she first mentioned it, and he swore Mikaela seemed a little offended at how he seemed all too happy for her to leave him alone.

Unfortunately, it was true.

The young man glanced down at his arm, which seemed to be getting sorer and burning for a little bit. He looked back toward where Bumblebee had disappeared momentarily and quickly made his way into the house and up the stairs.

"Sam are you all right?" His mom called out.

It was the tone of her voice. "Gotta take a shower!" he called out quickly in a partial lie. Yes, he needed a shower, but no, he wasn't all right.

"Are you sure, honey?" his mom called, thinking his answer had been a little _too_ quick. It was one of those suspiciously fast answers. Her mom instincts kicked into high gear.

"I'm fine, mom! I just need a shower!" he called down the stairs. He hadn't even looked away from the mirror as he wondered about his arm and his own fate. He felt bad about not telling the Autobots about his predicament. The more he watched blood drip from the wound, the more he wished he had.

What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Ratchet knew his work would be tedious with limited supplies and nowhere proper to work, but the more he went over the wreck that was known as Soundwave, the more he realized just how tedious this was going to be and the more determined he became. To begin, he opened Soundwave's cranial system and took a look. By the looks of it, it appeared he'd been tampered with. With a grunt, Ratchet's fingers transformed into more useful tools on his right hand. The more he found, the more it brought into question who Soundwave _really_ was. Taking the opportunity that Soundwave was down, the medic decided to take a moment and study the killer.

He tried to remember if he knew the name associated with the Allspark, but his memory couldn't recollect it. The CMO then began to wonder how Soundwave was considered a priest, but most assumed he worked for the Dark God, Unicron.

* * *

Back in Tranquility, Sam was starting to wonder if the wound had stopped its nonsense. He'd hopped in the shower and since then, it stopped bleeding and hurting. He dried off and went to his room to put on clothes.

Looking over his room he approached and simply dropped onto his bed back first. His eyes stared at the ceiling while he considered telling the Autobots about his arm. He relaxed and passed out not long after his shower. The only thing was, he didn't pass out from sheer tiredness or exhaustion. He was put to sleep by the one who'd remained silent all this time.

* * *

Even though it was complete darkness, he was aware. To some extent, he could feel again. He wasn't sure what was happening and part of him wanted to believe he had finally died. He heard what sounded like Ratchet's voice and he was sure he'd been sent to the pit.

Soundwave was alarmed to find his symbiots were not with him. His telepathic connection to them was gone. This feeling seemed to jolt life into him.

Ratchet growled and flinched when Soundwave's body unexpectedly twitched. He gave the Decepticon a dirty look while wondering what had caused it. Soundwave's horrible condition seemed to leave the mech with no working sensors or extremities.

'_Rumble…?'_ the priest called, yet he went unanswered. He could feel something within his existence that he could not describe, but he did not like it.

'_Ravage…?'_ Again only silence returned him. _'Laserbeak! Buzzsaw! Answer me!'_

"Now what in the…?" Ratchet stopped when Soundwave twitched again, this time it was stronger. Ratchet's optics went to a reader that had been hooked up to Soundwave's vitals and processor so he could keep an eye on them. Ratchet frowned as he stopped on the processor monitor. It seemed to be going nuts. He wondered what was wrong with him and wondered if perhaps he was dying, but that thought was quickly vanquished as he spied the mechs stable vitals on the monitor next to it.

'…_Frenzy?'_

The Decepticon twitched again and this time Ratchet stood up with a huff. With all the twitching, he was going to end up doing more harm than good. He decided to administer something that would knock Soundwave's cognitive systems offline completely until he was done.

* * *

Starscream, after appointing himself Leader of the Decepticons, made his way to the Nemesis, which was still parked and unharmed. He walked around it twice, looking at it, thinking, wondering how it had managed to remain undamaged throughout the war. He had seen a couple of the other Decepticons working on it, getting it ready for transport.

This was going to be a pretty rough ride back to Earth, especially with the limited Energon reserves for both the ship and the rest of the crew, but if rationed out until they found another planet to get some from, they would be alright. He didn't mind leading the Decepticons, and he was already proving to be a far better leader than Megatron was himself. He wasn't as cruel, and wasn't as impatient, giving the Decepticons some well deserved rest when they needed it and also making sure that the rations of energon were equal except for those who were larger, in which the other Decepticons understood.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp, come to the Nemesis, I want you to bring Sunstorm with you."

* * *

He could sense something. His mind was somehow online now. His body was sending and receiving signals. He was alive… but how?

Soundwave's optics glittered to life for the first time since his crash. The first thing he noticed is that his visor was not on him. He went to move slowly and pain answered through all of his circuitry telling him that doing so was a big no, no. His body was badly damaged, and his diagnostic went to work as soon as he set things online, finding that he had been somewhat repaired. He looked around as much as he could since he could hardly move at all.

Again he stopped, sensing something. It was familiar, but he wouldn't able to do anything about it. It was like a draw, something he was supposed to do. In his searching, his optics meandered until he found someone standing in the room with him. Ratchet.

Ratchet knew Soundwave was awake and moving. He was the one who had reversed the cognitive shut down. He'd had his back to the Decepticon, working on something small in a far corner on a platform. Turning, he sensed the feeling of eyes upon him, and sure enough, Soundwave's red optics met his. It took him a moment to compose himself from the sudden fear that automatically overcame him. "Don't move," he demanded before going back to working on whatever it was.

Soundwave said nothing. Most of his body was still torn up and he had no doubt that Ratchet could and would kill him where he lay. He looked around the visual range he had without moving his head, finding many different wires and cables being fed into his body, feeding his spark and his circuitry. He understood now how he felt pain even though his diagnostic was saying the receptors were offline. Some sensors were sending mixed signals to his neural net, causing him to either twitch involuntarily or twitch from pain. A lot of his other systems were still trying to come online. He noticed when he turned his head that his Radio Wave Sensor was sitting beside him with a lot of his armor – and was that a part of his leg? All of it was out of reach with makeshift tubing all over him much like he was, but it was still disconnected from him. By the looks of things, he was going to be here a long while.

* * *

_I think I confused myself a bit :P Ah well. If there's errors, I'll fix em eventually ^^_

_Anyway, Soundwave is now really in the hands of the Autobots_


	8. The Last Allspark Priest

**A/N**: _I know, been a bit, huh? Hopefully it was worth the waiting._

* * *

It seemed to take a little longer than usual for a complete thought to be formed and then for it to actually be completed. Perhaps it was because he was, in essence, scattered all over the floor of this makeshift med bay by none other than the Autobot medic who seemed to know _everyone's_ nook and cranny. And he thought his luck was bad before…

The monotone Decepticon finally dared to speak. His voice crackled and buzzed what could have been a sentence, but the only thing intelligible was: "…Frenzy,"

Ratchet, who'd been busy with other things and not quite expecting Soundwave to even be awake, looked over at him with an unreadable gaze. Perhaps he too was trying to understand what Soundwave had uttered. He answered what he knew about the little pain in the aft, "Frenzy wasn't within what little armor casing you had left," his voice was dry. "It is believed that he killed himself back where the humans were keeping Megatron and the cube,"

"Why… am I here?" This time each word was at least intelligible. Progress… however, the broken tone still screeched strangely, making Ratchet cringe, proving Soundwave still needed a lot of repair.

Ratchet stopped what he was doing and pointed a laser at Soundwave's vocal processor then read from his data pad, "You shouldn't even be speaking, 'Con. You'll do more damage than good. And it was me who brought you here," he answered quickly, reaching for another tool, "…much to the disgust of the other Autobots. I don't see how anyone would have missed your crash but it appears you were there for a long while,"

"You saved me…" The priest stated with obvious confusion. Was an Autobot actually helping a Decepticon?

Ratchet gave a good, hard look at Soundwave. The Decepticon was just not acting himself. He wasn't even speaking correctly for as long as he'd known him. His voice wasn't off; it was how he spoke. Since when did he speak of himself in the first person?

"I suppose so," The medic replied hesitantly, wondering if Soundwave realized what he was doing or not. He then took his attention away from the obvious stare he was giving the Decepticon and lifted a small tube to examine it before bringing it back down to the table.

Soundwave saw the look but he had no idea why he'd gotten it. But then again, he was a Decepticon, wasn't he? Decepticons got all kinds of looks from Autobots, so really, this should have been nothing different. He was more interested in why The Autobot medic was helping him. It was nearly – if not completely unheard of, especially for one like himself. He was one of the most disgusted Decepticons that Megatron had ever had the privilege of using. He only had one question: "Why?"

Ratchet replied, "Because," He turned slightly with the vile of bluish liquid and held it to the line that was hooked to the mech before giving Soundwave another sideways glance, "I'm not as cold as that bastard Megatron was. And you're wanted for questioning in regards to many fatal cases against the Autobots." His reply was dark, hatred spewing from the words he spoke. He turned with the fluid which he had since put into an injector. "Now, lean forward, this has to go right into your sensor and nerve system."

Soundwave glanced between both the medic and what he thought he was going to inject his body with in one of the most painful places. He was tired of feeling pain, honestly. He wanted a break.

"Move it, I don't have all day," Ratchet growled, standing up behind Soundwave's head. He waited another moment for the mech to move and when he did not, he quickly jabbed the mech right into a sensory system in the neck and shoulder, causing Soundwave to let out a screech because of the pain. "Would have hurt less if you had done as I told you,"

Soundwave was stunned with pain for a moment before he looked back at the medic who had proceeded to do his own thing. Deep in the priest's mind something called to him, something familiar. He gazed in the general direction which was to his general left.

Three other mechs, who were in a different building all stopped at the sound. "Heh, sounds like Soundwave survived," Ironhide groused, glancing in the general direction of the scream.

Optimus Prime looked from Ironhide and glanced in the direction of Ratchet and his patient with concern. Soundwave might become a problem and he hoped that Ratchet had taken that in mind.

* * *

Back in Tranquility, at about the same time, Sam was woken abruptly. He sat up in bed when he heard Bumblebee's horn and assumed it was him who'd woken him. He screwed his eyes shut, vaguely remembering the odd dream he'd just had about apparent priests, female robots and that damned cube.

He shook himself awake after he realized he was not going to make sense of the dream and leaned out the window. The instant brightness made him squint and the reflection of the sun off of the Camaro sitting in his driveway did not help matters any.

"Come on, Sam!" Mikaela called from the side of the car. "Me and Bee got some things Ratchet needs for his new patient!"

With a groan, Sam yelled back down, "I'll be down in a minute!"

He had heard a thing or two about the new captive. They had nothing good to say about him, but Sam was just curious – or what he considered to be curiousness. He felt a cold chill run down his spine at the thought of the Decepticon. He figured that maybe it was remembering the mark Megatron had instilled in him. The evilness, the coldness, the ruthlessness.

* * *

Back on Cybertron, Starscream was still busy trying to rally up the Decepticons to go back to Earth. He hadn't taken a liking much to Sunstorm, who seemed to be as pushy as he, himself, was. However, the new leader had found a use for him for now, and that was to pilot the ship along with Shockwave. He was a good pilot, as Starscream had found out on a joyride that he and 4 other seekers had taken with another starship a while back. He'd actually stumbled across him being picked on by another trine.

That was how he had also found Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet, all of which were going back to Earth as well, much to their displeasure. He needed all the reinforcements he could get, especially if he was to set his plan in motion, and that included capturing the Witwicky boy from the Autobotst He wanted Sam for no other reason but to put a dent in the Autobot's armor and make them suffer.

After some debate with other higher Decepticons, it was decided that they would not destroy the planet because it seemed suitable to try to rebuild what was left of their race. He wasn't even sure how he would go about it because the Allspark had been destroyed and Soundwave was also dead. There were other means, and he would find them, even if he had to scour the galaxy to find them.

"The Nemesis will be ready for flight in a few joors," Shockwave's voice came over the com system of the starship. He had been working on the main control room, prepping it for takeoff.

Thundercracker and Skywarp both emerged from around the ship with Sunstorm and Starscream nodded, "Sunstorm, you are to help Shockwave with piloting this ship."

Sunstorm gave Starscream a look, "Why does he need my help? Wasn't he supposed to be the only one who can pilot it?"

"Because_ I_ said so! That's why!" Starscream growled, making both Thundercracker and Skywarp back up. Sunstorm, however stood his ground, his fists balling up in his hands as he stomped off towards the entrance to the ship.

Starscream looked at the other two, "Get everyone else ready to leave," He demanded before pivoting on one foot and turning to enter the Nemesis himself. Thundercracker and Skywarp both looked at each other a long moment before they too took off, hunting the rest of the Decepticons who were not already on the starship.

* * *

They seemed to arrive in record time. Bumblebee dropped Sam and Mikaela off with Optimus while he brought Ratchet's supplies to him. The scout had heard Ratchet talking as he got close. It wasn't uncommon to find him talking to himself, but he knew for sure the medic was talking to someone else just by how he spoke. He almost swore he heard someone else's voice, but there was too much noise to make it out for sure.

"Who you talking to in there, Ratchet?" Bumblebee approached the door. There he saw the great doctor administering some sort of liquid to the Decepticon. Soundwave glanced toward the sound of the voice, his strange glowing optics pierced Bee's own mind, making him shudder.

Soundwave also realized his vulnerability when he saw the small Autobot glaring at him. He knew in his current state that he could be easily killed. He'd hoped the look he gave the young Autobot was enough to ward him off. Shortly after, Bumblebee growled something in Cybertronian and walked out.

"Already making friends, I see," Ratchet muttered to the stasis locked Decepticon as he worked.

Soundwave's mind was jumbled. Things were waking in him – many of which he was too injured to understand. Things that had been put to rest under the Decepticon leader long ago were now coming back full force. He supposed it had to do with Frenzy bolting on him, but his logic circuits tried to tell him it was something else. That there was some other force at work here, but he did not know what. The emotions started to tug on him, overwhelming him of things that could only be explained as the feeling of falling. It was too much to handle… too much to comprehend. His optics went dark as he was rushed with this new feeling. It was overwhelming and he gave into it.

Ratchet grew wild when he saw the sudden energy crash on the nearby monitor, "Oh no you don't!" He grunted, knowing that Soundwave was crashing, and to save him, he forced the mech back on recharge. The mech went well to sleep, his reading evening out again.

The medic watched his signs even out. All the while, he wondered what had happened. The 'Con was as healthy as he could be given his circumstance and there was no explanation as to why he suddenly went south. Perhaps more was going on with him than what he realized.

About 10 minutes later, Prime's voice rang to him through their Autobot comm. Link._ "Ratchet: Status report,"_

"_He's... alive, Prime,"_ Ratchet sent back, busily working on Ravage's body, who seemed to have taken the most beating.

"_Alive?"_ Optimus sounded shocked. Almost. _"What's his status?"_ Prime demanded immediately, worried more for the safety of his men and the humans.

"_He's no danger, I can guarantee you that."_ Ratchet declared with an optic over his shoulder on the mech, _"I put him into stasis lock for more invasive repairs."_ he paused as he quickly looked back to his current work, fixed a circuit on Ravage and then proceeded_, "He's gone under some heavy stress, both bodily and circuitry. Something is going on with him, but I can't read the wavelengths he's using." _

"_What about the symbiots?"_

Ratchet continued to run amuck with words as he told his leader the status on the smaller 'Cons, _"The symbiots are barely alive. I have been working on Ravage but I still cannot get him to come out of stasis lock. It might be too late for him._

"_As for Rumble, he is being kept alive by a secondary spark compartment until I can repair his bodily damage. Laserbeak is in emergency stasis lock. I am assuming all of their sparks were close to dying by the looks of them, but I haven't gotten complete readings yet. I __won't be able to tell until they wake up… if they wake up at all__."_

Prime could hear by his tone that Ratchet was becoming annoyed. He must have been breaking concentration._ "Very well. Alert me of any change,"_

"_Yes, sir," _Ratchet let out a small sigh in relief and shut the com off to continue. In a way he was thankful that Optimus had stopped talking so he could finish his task at hand.

* * *

As if it was empathy itself coming to Sam, who winced slightly, unsure of where it was coming from, he scanned the area, looking for its source. Unsure of where to find it, but he knew it was coming from close by. He wasn't even positive how he could feel the feelings of others. His eyes stopped on the building where Ratchet was working on the Decepticon.

Bumblebee had seen him from the side and his interest perked at Sam's sudden interest in Ratchet's work area. He wanted to run up and thwart him from entering, knowing that beast was in there. Even though he was in a bunch of pieces, the scout was sure Soundwave could and would still hurt his friend. As he went to go for him, Sam disappeared into the room.

"I think… I think he's hurting Ratchet,"

The CMO quickly turned around at the sound of Sam's voice. Why in the name of Primus had he come in? Didn't he realize how dangerous Soundwave really was? Ratchet stopped, "What are you doing in here boy? And how would you know anything about him?"

"…I-" Sam stared blankly at the medic for the longest time, unsure what to say. Ratchet only stared back at him intently, wondering what he was up to.

"Well?" the medic demanded.

He had no idea how or why. With a glance to his arm, he answered, "I don't know, Ratch, he just is,"

"Decepticons don't feel, Samuel. Especially not _this_ one." Ratchet glowered at the boy, "They are killers with only an appetite to rule." The mech looked up at Soundwave, "And he's been wanted by the Autobots for the countless atrocities he has done."

"He does," Sam pointed to Soundwave who was still out cold, walking near the Decepticon, he looked at him intensely, "He's not like Megatron, you know." Sam put his hands in his pockets, following the thoughts that were coming to him almost naturally.

What would this kid know in any case? It was kind of insulting in a way. "Hn," Ratchet grew annoyed with the teen in his lab. His words were confusing. How was this Decepticon any different from any other? To him, he wasn't. He had seen him so many times in battle, how dark and consumed by hatred he was. This was of utmost confusion. How could he possibly tell how the Decepticon felt? He was after all, only human. In no way connected to the mechs. Or so he thought. "You know not what you speak of," Ratchet stated. "now go on, get outta here."

Something came over him like a wave and he felt dizzy. Blinking a few times to try to set his mind straight, he realized it wasn't working. Instantly his mind went to his wound. And that was the last thing Sam remembered.

The boy walked closer, as if he had no fear whatsoever that the Decepticon before him could flick him into the next century. Stopping short of Soundwave's feet, he suddenly spoke words no human could know, "My protector turned on me."

That caught Ratchet off guard. "Wait, what?"

That also caught Bumblebee in the spark. What was Sam saying? How had he turned on him?

"He killed all of them except this one when this one wasn't aware." 'Sam' rambled, "I can only assume that it would give him ultimate control over the powers if there was only one very powerful priest and such priest worked for him,"

Even Bumblebee who still stared at Soundwave with abhor was too shocked by what Sam was saying. How could he know about that? He darted his head to look at his human friend. Something was off about him but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Sam? Are you all right? What are you talking about?"

There was almost a growl from the boy, and he turned sharply, "Don't you understand?" his voice was raised, and the Autobots were unsure how to take him. His voice went normal and he gazed at Soundwave once more, "I thought it was over… There is no one left. Soundwave is the last." He then looked back toward the giant before him. "I cannot let my last priest fall…"

Something observable went between the Decepticon and the child. The body of the Decepticon jolted and began convulsing in a disturbingly bizarre way. The weird feelings Sam had been feeling in his arm prior came to life when met with Soundwave's healing powers and what hid deep within him. The small yet enormous snap of energy between them threw Sam to the floor.

"Sam!_ no_!" Ratchet yelled.

* * *

_Oooh, a cliffie ^^_


	9. Of Priests and Men

**A/N**: _Took me a bit, here it is ^^ Do enjoy!_

* * *

"Sam! No!" cried Ratchet.

Optimus and Ironhide both startled at the cry and immediately bolted for Ratchet's building. When they got there, the place was glowing fiercely as if someone had put a star in there with them. Shielding their optics from the intensity, they barely saw what appeared to be Ratchet kneeling on the ground. Trying to see what they could, they also made out a small human and Soundwave, whose body was sparking from head to toe. Sam was suspended in the air with arms and legs dangling. Bumblebee was back against the wall apparently confused and petrified.

"Optimus," Ironhide said, mystified.

"Sam!" Mikaela cried when she saw everything for herself. She began running toward him but was snapped back by an arc of the energy. It didn't knock her out, only back and out of the way. She stared while she now sat on the floor, stunned. Suddenly feeling herself literally scooped up and of the floor, Mikaela's eyes went over the large hands, following the even larger body that was behind them. It was Optimus.

Meanwhile, in the brightness, Ratchet went to grab Sam to get him out of the way, only to get the shock of his life from the powerful light that surrounded both him and the Decepticon. As much as he wanted to, he thought twice about touching Sam again. He could only watch, petrified as arcs of energy went from Sam's fragile body almost all towards the Decepticon before him.

"What's happening?" Ironhide nearly yelled, stopping just behind Optimus, "Ratchet!"

"Get back!" Ratchet warned with a wave of his hand. He was worried about his comrades getting hurt from this and not knowing what could happen next made it that much more difficult. He adjusted his optics to see that Sam's clothes were shredded in some places, fried in others, yet his body looked to be in perfect shape.

In the confusion, all looked toward Soundwave – where the arcs were concentrating. The parts of the Decepticon that had been on the floor now levitated around him by some force they weren't sure of. Within seconds of contact with Sam, all of those parts seemed to take on their own life and gravitated to Soundwave in an instant, slamming onto the Decepticon in their proper places with sparks flying, repairing him. The Decepticon glowed as arcs of energy went all over his body, causing him to twitch and vibrate. Even Soundwave was unaware of what happening, being that he was still offline.

"Ratchet…" Optimus went to speak, but the rest of his sentence wouldn't come because he was too mesmerized by the glowing child and Decepticon.

The Autobots were simply amazed as Soundwave's body was quickly recovering. The kid was obviously out cold, sparks were still fleeing from his body, the ones that did not hit Soundwave, shattered what little lights were left and any live electrical circuits.

Ratchet shied from the monitors around as they exploded and he ducked from any debris. He watched more arcs go from the teen's body and then suddenly it all simply stopped. Sam dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

Bumblebee was the one who ran to Sam and quickly picked him up and away, getting him out of any danger the teen might be in after the arcs stopped. Ratchet was nearly on top of him, checking Sam – finding him in perfect health which was a surprise all unto itself. Optimus and Ironhide both moved closer, concerned for the boy. All had forgotten about the newly rejuvenated Soundwave whose optics slowly lit up.

Suddenly, the priest's optics grew bright and he jerked. It took him a moment before he actually moved, also wondering what had happened. He was surprised to find that he no longer had errors, he no longer hurt. Slowly lifting his hand and looking at it, he flexed the servos and gyros that made it function. He was fixed and somehow he was no longer under Megatron's command. Had Megatron been killed?

Ratchet knew immediately that Soundwave's weapons were now all online and he saw an opportunity to disable them, and took it. Soundwave was still on the berth and the medic used that moment to disable all of those deemed dangerous. "Your weapons have been disabled. You cannot restore power to them without my say so,"

Soundwave knew what he had done immediately, for he had used it many times himself. It was one of his favorite ways of disarming captors. A nod was his only reply to that.

As he thought about what had happened, he remembered something about a familiar feeling a few times in between his stasis moments and when he was asleep while Ratchet was working on him. He clearly thought he'd felt the Allspark, and he wondered how the Autobots manage to get it. He also wondered where Megatron was, and Starscream. His mood grew bitter at the thought of the both of them. The medic stared at him as he sat up slowly for the first time. He could see the confusion and fear in their faces, but instead of addressing that he asked, "Where is it?"

Still dumbfounded, Ratchet didn't reply right away while he stared in awe like the rest of them, "W-what? Where's what?"

His optics were hidden under a fixed visor and he looked around his field of vision until they fell on a human in Bumblebee's arms, "The Allspark. I know it's around here, I can sense it." About that time he realized what he was looking at _was_ the Allspark… only it was clearly in human shape. The mech stared in thought at the boy. "What is his designation?"

"Why do you want to know?" Ironhide asked offensively.

Soundwave's optics shot to the questioner, his visor becoming transparent. "I think I have a right to know the name of the human that saved my life."

"His name is Samuel Witwicky,"

He knew that voice. Soundwave's optics gazed upon none other than Optimus Prime. He knew he was around, but he'd chosen not to look at him until now. "I see,"

"Wait a minute! What's going on? What about the Allspark?" Ironhide asked, wishing to know, now, more than ever, after Soundwave mentioned about the cube being around here.

They all thought he was talking about the shard that Optimus had in subspace in his left arm, but how would he know? Perhaps it was because he was a priest that he could sense it, but then again, that shard wasn't giving of any energy as far as Ratchet had said.

…Something wasn't right here…

"I am…" Soundwave started.

"What?" asked an also fascinated Ratchet, more Autobots coming and Ironhide ready to strike the first chance he got at Soundwave.

"Earlier than the Great War. Before Megatron got his hands on me…" Soundwave replied, unsure what words to use quite yet as this was all still new to him, "Before I was… reformed,"

The room fell eerily silent as they all stared at him and each other with questioning gazes, wondering if Soundwave had fried something. He sure was acting _weird_.

Wait… Where were his symbiots? Why weren't they with him? "Where is my team?" Searching for a life sign from them, trying to sense them, his optics naturally followed his senses which led him where they all laid. They were in stasis, which made him anxious. Further analysis revealed that they were all in not so good health.

"Unstable, I am afraid," Ratchet said softly, as not to antagonize the mech.

Given what Ratchet had available, Soundwave was impressed. "Your supplies are limited. Assistance: Appreciated."

* * *

Sam wasn't sure what happened. The last thing he remembered was looking at his wound and then something else. Was he dead? No… that couldn't be it. It was too… well, blank. There was no light source, but it was bright and there were no shadows or anything standing around to give a clue that there was ground beneath him. Where the hell was he? "Hello?"

"He is the last of his kind; that much is certain." An echoing voice stated. "Therefore he is needed very badly. I could not let him die."

Sam's eyes darted around for the source of the voice but he found no one. He was still so confused. "What? What's going on? Where am I?" He asked with rising panic.

"I know you dreamed of them… I'm the one who showed you, Sam."

Confused by everything and not really getting what the voice was saying, he asked, "Of what? What do you mean? Who are you?"

The voice suddenly changed to a more regal one, confusing the teen even more, "He's a priest – the last one of _my_ priests. Through you we were able to save him."

"What the hell are you going on about? What the hell is this? I'm so confused!"

"Let me tell you a little secret you must never repeat…"

* * *

For the humans, they were merely spectators. They didn't say a thing. They didn't know what to say even if they could plus things were still so new with their visitors, that they didn't even know if speaking right now would get someone killed. Mikaela, who had been set down by now, was in shambles while Will and Rob both looked between her and each other wondering what the hell was going on. Whatever it was, it was certainly something big.

How had the Allspark managed to find itself inside of a young human male? There were only few things that could happen to cause the Allspark to jump. "Where is Megatron?" Soundwave asked. Since his communications had been disabled along with his weapons, he could not tell if he was around or not.

Optimus furrowed his optic ridges in worry. If he was asking about him, perhaps he wanted to continue his work for him? "He's been destroyed,"

"I see." Soundwave looked to the limp body of Sam, who was still in a semi-deep sleep. Nodding toward him, he said, "He was the last to use the Allspark and he destroyed it, didn't he?"

"Yes. He killed Megatron with it." Optimus admitted.

Soundwave moved faster than anyone could stop him and almost forcefully took Sam from the Autobots and held him against him, almost fatherly like. "Prime!" Ratchet called, but Soundwave was already in a position that if they moved wrong, he could crush the boy. The rest of the Autobots gave each other a look, backing up slightly; fearful of what Soundwave would do after they'd told him what Sam had done.

Almost instantly, Sam roused from his slumber after being taken into the hands of the Decepticon. He knew he was in the hands of someone unfamiliar, yet familiar. Meeting the gaze of the Decepticon, he showed no fear. "So… uh, you're Soundwave, huh?" He wasn't sure what had happened before, but he knew now. "That explains a few things…"

Confusion still rattled the Autobots. Sam was now talking as if he knew Soundwave. What was going on?

"Affirmative," was the even reply.

He tongued his cheek. "So… if you're not gonna kill me, what _are_ you gonna do with me?"

There was a long pause and then Soundwave said the _last_ thing that anyone thought they would ever hear him say, "Protecting you is what I will do for the rest of my life. I no longer follow orders from anyone. I will always be a Decepticon, however, do not fear me, and do not fear my team," as he liked to call them, "You have given me back what Megatron took. I owe you my life."

Mouths dropped around the room. Optimus only wondered why the sudden change of spark. This day couldn't get any weirder!

It seemed as though Sam was good at getting Cybertronians to feel the need to owe him. "Nah," the teen shrugged, "you don't owe me anything, besides, I was just a conduit."

"Can you help my team, Allspark?" The Autobots were looking strange at him now, Allspark? Why was he calling Sam the Allspark? Why was he suddenly so changed? Why was he cradling the child, when he would have otherwise ripped him to shreds by now and let his symbiots follow suit afterwards.

The Decepticon watched intently as Sam seemed to change on the spot. No one else noticed but the priest and he knew his request would be done. He set Sam down when they boy nodded.

"Rumble," Sam's voice was no different like before, and his eyes glowed a slight bit with white as he spoke. Starting as if it were some oddity from a science-fiction movie, a spark jumped from him to the small body, and it started to move with life. With Ratchet's work, Rumble moved again as he woke completely. He was confused and suddenly frightened to find himself in a room filled to the brim with Autobots.

"Boss!" He cried, shying back. He looked around frantically. Spotting the large Decepticon, he ran, knocking things here and there as he did so, making Ratchet angry almost instantly. Soundwave was still as Rumble leapt to him, which was nearly across the room, letting him latch onto whatever part of him he needed.

Anyone who was not watching Rumble, stared at Sam in awe. Next he pointed to Laserbeak, calling his name as another spark jumped from him much like it had to Rumble, only it was larger and the body fixed itself with small arcs of energy moving over it, waking it from its near death. "Ravage,"

Ratchet stared as what was taking him hours took Sam seconds. He really must be the new Allspark. There was no other explanation. "Optimus… Could it be?"

"I think so…" the Autobot leader replied, already having accepted what Ratchet was most likely thinking. "A priest would recognize it anywhere or _in_ anyone…"

All of the other symbiots jumped up and looked to their leader, as if they were asking if they should fight for their lives. Soundwave shook his head, after a few words passed from the priest to them. They all simultaneously turned their heads to look at Sam and then bowed to him.

Well that made Sam feel uncomfortable as all hell. "Uh… okay, you can all stop, ya know, it's getting a little uh, weird."

Optimus Prime pushed by the other Autobots who moved out of his way quickly as he got closer to the giant who was as tall as himself. All of the symbiots attention went from Sam to the Prime in front of them. "Aw shit," Rumble moved onto Soundwave's back all the while giving Optimus the evil eye.

It was time for questions, and Optimus had a lot of them. "Soundwave, why are you here?"

"I crashed. Starscream and the others knew what happened." Remembering the time in the cave, he also thought about Frenzy. The pain jolted the Decepticon and it washed over him like he had never felt, and he balled his free hand up into a tight fist. Everyone but Sam was unsure how to take this suddenly changed Decepticon. This was highly strange, especially from one of Megatron's top notch followers. They weren't sure if he was lying or faking, but Sam looked at them all, knowing the priest was for sure not faking.

"Bind him and the symbiots."

Everyone looked to Optimus in surprise, especially Sam. He wasn't sure exactly what he felt at that moment, but it sure felt like betrayal of some sort, even though the Decepticon was an enemy. "But Optimus, you-you can't!"

"I am sorry, Sam," His apology was genuine for the boy.

"But, you don't understand! I need him free!" Okay, why? Suddenly he stopped. Now that was a damn good question. Maybe it was because of Soundwave's decree, but he was still confused and frightened to really absorb it all. That damned spirit would not have been so adamant about Soundwave for nothing. In fact… it acted as if he was some prized jewel.

Optimus also seemed to be struck by thought. It was strange how this boy wanted to protect Soundwave, even though he was an enemy of the Autobots. Finally his optics settled on Sam and he shook his head, "As of right now there is no absolute way to believe his every word. It is for the best interest of my men and you for now,"

The priest gave no resistance. He needed to be near the Allspark and if that meant being bound, then he would be, rather than be cast out or possibly killed… for now.

"Since I hold the Matrix, it will decide if you are a good enough warrior to protect such a person," the Prime's words weren't cold, but harsh. He meant his every word.

'_You gotta be sh…!' _Sam stared in silent, staggered wonder. _'It can't be!'_ So it was Optimus who had the Matrix? The spirit neglected to tell him _that_!

Soundwave stared at Optimus in shock through a now non-transparent visor. That was only a rumor until now. The priest had refused to believe such a thing even under Megatron until he'd heard it firsthand. What a twist… and real big mess.

* * *

_Hopefully that was worth the wait :)_

_Yeah, this might seem like a run of the mill Sam being the Allspark, but I assure you, It's not... there's gonna be twists and turns all over the place :)_


	10. He's Just a Cat!

A/N: _Took a while, but I think I got it right :D Let the time waiting be worth it ^^ _

_Here goes nothing! Enjoy!_

* * *

The ship came to a halt behind the moon of Earth, on the dark side, which was the only spot it was invisible now. They knew they would be able to get this close safely, but the next part would prove trickier. Shockwave noticed a slight problem and luckily it was spotted in time.

"So their satellites _will_ pick us up after all," Starscream grumbled as he pondered a way to be less detected. The humans would surely ready for them before they arrived just from the sheer size of the Nemesis. He'd underestimated the abilities of the native species, apparently.

"So what now?" Shockwave turned from his station to face Starscream.

"Give me a moment, would you?" Starscream again went about thinking. "Compile me a list of everything in orbit around that filthy rock. Maybe we can go in a blind spot,"

After taking a moment to look, Skywarp just about laughed, "That's a big negative, Starscream. There are countless satellites in both stationary and non-stationary orbit. There's even a space station,"

"I'm well aware of the space station! Narrow it down to the most obvious satellites… you idiot! Must I do everything myself?" Starscream chided, thinking that this time Skywarp might think on his own for once.

"Having Soundwave about now would have made this part a cinch, probably," a voice quipped from one of the corridors behind the main bridge.

"What…?" Starscream was thrown completely off track with that statement. Yes, it was true, but who in the hell was that? He turned to argue but was cut short by no one being there, "I have no time for this-!" He paused, wondering if the one who'd said that had already left.

"I've got a spot," Thundercracker suddenly said, redirecting Starscream's attention. "We will make it, and it will place us in the middle of one of their large bodies of water. All spectrums to see the ship will be blocked or not in line of sight. We will be invisible to anything that might spot us. I suggest diving straight into the water. From what I have picked up so far, the ship can handle the density."

"That's good." Starscream then grinned, planning his next move on the humans and the Autobots. "Then we go there. For what little I know about them, they _don't_ know their oceans very well. They won't think to look under the water." The scientist in him was annoyed at their pure idiocy. "You'd think they would have studied every inch of their planet,"

* * *

Generations of priests all had to know one thing in common. It was the origins of the Allspark and the undiluted story that followed it. It was a secret that only the priests knew until Sam came into the picture. The true information wasn't known to even exist outside of the priests, so it was no surprise that only Soundwave – and now Sam – knew it.

Back on earth, Soundwave had his own problems and he never picked up the signal from the Decepticon battleship that was parked out by the moon. His mind was busy on what to do about the Matrix, as the Autobots could wait. It was supposed to be gone! – Into another _galaxy_ to be exact… how was this possible! How had the Prime of the Autobots gotten it? Someone must have retrieved it. But who? And that same someone had given it to Optimus and told him it was used for power? He needed to find out.

Almost immediately after the call to bind him, they had isolated him in a completely different building with his symbiots. Ratchet had quickly rigged up an energon-charged border. He had to hand it to the medic to have gotten it done so quickly. So this was what it was like to become a prisoner of the Autobots… It wasn't as if he was going to run. Where would he go? The mech decided to take the time to evaluate things up to this point. They obviously weren't going to kill him, so he figured he would answer their questions so long as he could keep an eye on the human that was now bound to the Allspark. He also needed to find the other Decepticons and see what they were up to. He didn't think Starscream would be happy to see him alive.

The parasites had been placed on a forced order that Soundwave could not break without trouble. None of them were happy to be stuck here, but they were Soundwave's team, and where Soundwave went, they went. What Soundwave ordered, they did. All except one unscrupulous critter called Frenzy. The building was under constant guard should he or his symbiots think trying to get out was a good idea. The priest himself was bound in such a way that he could not break free, no matter his might. Soundwave wondered if it was influence. But it couldn't be. Optimus would have done far more than had him locked up if that was the case. He needed to know for sure. He had to see it for himself. If it was real, then it posed a possible problem for Sam.

'_If he was lying…'_ But Optimus wasn't known for lying. The priest immediately dismissed the thought. '_Is it true, though?'_ He wondered_. 'Could he possibly hold the Matrix and not even know about what it really is?'_ True, the Matrix had a few stories, but only one was real. He was one of the very few who knew its real story. He could hope that this was it, otherwise, things would get really sticky, and he didn't particularly like sticky.

He needed to find out what the circumstances were before it was too late.

* * *

A week had gone by. Sam hadn't left the premises because of Ratchet wanting to run tests, but that wasn't his problem today. It was beginning to eat at him little by little. The scout didn't say anything about it, nor did he make a fuss about it, but one thing was for certain… He was beginning to feel betrayed. These new changes in Sam brought on things he didn't particular like.

Sam didn't hang out with him much anymore, and when he did, he didn't talk much. Instead, Sam was talking about going to the Decepticon. It seemed Sam only wanted to be around that evil mech more than he was with him. He understood that it had to do with the Allspark, but that didn't stop him from still feeling jealous over it.

So much had happened in such a short time, they weren't even sure they were in the same dimension as before. Mikaela had sworn that they'd walked through some portal somewhere and they were living lives of complete strangers, yet a lot of it was awesome… Awesome up until Sam had performed his little miracle with those Decepticons. Then, everything changed.

The two sat quietly. When they talked, their conversations didn't hold as much life to them as they had before. One could tell something weighed heavily on both of them but when asked they'd blow it off as nothing, apparently avoiding it all together. They did this a lot lately.

There was so much to talk about; but what to say? 'Hey, I'm the Allspark now. Things are gonna change.' No… it was more than just a conversation starter… it was the beginning of something that would either tear them apart, or bring them closer together. Perhaps it was the fear of losing each other that made the subject so difficult…

"So what now?" Finally having a moment without the Autobots up their asses, Mikaela started first. Why not get right to the point immediately? Better to know now than later, right?

"Whatta ya mean?" Sam asked, secretly relieved he wasn't the one to say something first. Quite frankly, he'd been avoiding the subject and did his best to steer clear of any conversation that might go that way. Maybe Mikaela understood, because even though she had seemed she wanted to say something about it, she didn't.

"About what's happened with you? You can't tell me everything is going to go on like it was, Sam. Our lives changed when we met the Autobots, and now…" She paused waving her hands at him, "Now, you're some… alien… whatever…"

"-Allspark, Mikaela, listen…" he said as he rested his hand on hers, "I don't want anything to change between us. I want things to be as they are. I'm gonna do my best to make that happen, okay?"

"But that's impossible Sam," she argued. "I still have no real idea what's going on. I'm scared,"

"Yeah," he admitted with a glance to the ground, "I am too… heh,"

"So… what are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know right now. I really don't. But give me some time," And he didn't. It was all so much for him to absorb. "I need to talk to Soundwave. They won't let me but…" Mikaela gave him a funny look and he only nodded, understanding the look, "Yeah. I think I'm gonna just go where he is and try to find a way in."

Mikaela saw the flicker in his eye… but momentarily. "But the Autobots will stop you, won't they?"

"They don't like it that I am curious about him. It's like they want me to forget about him, but I can't. It's weird, ya know? I feel this strange draw to him. I guess it has something to do with the Allspark,"

"Doesn't that creep you out? Even a little? He is the bad guy!"

"Yeah, it's weird, but uh… the stuff is true. He has the answers I need," Sam pushed himself off the wall, "He's not as bad as you think, Mikaela. It's like… his spark is pure and he can live again… he's _the_ High Priest,"

It was strange when he would suddenly say something like that. His tone was just slightly different. As if he was speaking for someone else. It was almost too much for her to handle. "Don't let the Autobots hear you say that," she gave the tone a pass by. "They really hate him, you know. I overheard Ironhide talking to Ratchet. He was even more wanted than that Megatron guy, and he was the leader wasn't he?"

"Megatron betrayed them all. He thought he had devised the perfect plan, but it didn't work. The Autobots were onto him and made his plan impossible. He got what he deserved. Soundwave's different. His ultimate goal is to protect me."

"How do you know all this stuff? I mean, sometimes you sound like you lived with them and know all their history or something,"

Sam shrugged, "I'm still trying to figure that out,"

* * *

A few times, Sam walked by the Decepticon, but still he hadn't formed the right questions he wanted to ask him, so he moved on with routine either to go with Bumblebee or do something else. Deep down it bothered the teen seeing Soundwave shackled up like that. For some reason, the Autobots didn't believe the mech and it annoyed Sam. He had even tried to get Optimus to release him, but the Autobot refused. It was a strong mistrust between the two factions, he was sure, but they also didn't realize what Soundwave was telling them.

Finally, the annoyance getting to him, he detoured from going to see Optimus to see Soundwave. Ratchet had tried to tell him not to, but a strange look came across him and he simply walked past and into the building where the 'Con was being held.

When he opened the door, he gazed at the numerous glowing red optics that watched him approach. He knew Soundwave's immediately, as he could see the reflection of his optics off his visor. The place was barely lit, so he could only make out some of the features of all of them, making it look more like a mess of metal than any actual creature. He approached with his hands in his pockets, all the while watching the giant metal take on forms of actual bodies.

He was sitting against the wall, one knee up with his arm across it. Both his hands and feet were shackled so that he had movement, but he couldn't get free. "You shouldn't be shackled up like this, ya know," Sam looked at the chains with a frown, "I mean… it's not fair,"

"I am their enemy. I expect no better treatment," Soundwave replied honestly. The mech shifted and Sam visibly twitched at the sound of the chains on the floor.

"But you're so much more than that. I need you out, I need to get answers, Soundwave. This… this whole thing is crazy!"

"I was not well known before. They can only hold onto the memories of my time under Megatron. I do not condemn them for this. And what has happened, happened."

Why did it seem like even Soundwave was avoiding speaking to him about what was going on? "But this is different,"

Soundwave's head moved to the side and away from Sam, hiding the look in his optic. "I am still to blame for what I have done while under Megatron's command. I will allow them to treat me as such for now."

Sam sat down near the mech, looking up at him, taking in features he might have missed earlier. Finally he asked, "What _are_ you? Exactly? I mean I know you're an alien and all but I wanna know about the priest part."

Soundwave looked back at the teen, wondering why he was asking, "Have you not already been told?"

"Yeah," Sam waved him off, "The spirit of the cube showed me but I want to hear it from you."

"Why must I repeat what you already know?"

"I dunno," The teen shrugged, "maybe it's because I can't quite wrap my mind around all of this," He paused as he glanced to the ground. "Maybe… maybe it's because I am awake now and this is reality."

Soundwave gave Sam a good look when his gaze met the teen's. "Very well," he finally said, "the Allspark is not just a cube, but so much more. It is neither a he nor a she, but it exists. A spirit dwells within the cube that came to be known as the Allspark. It was not the cube itself, but the spark within it, that gave the cube tremendous power. The priests were to look after it after its counterpart; the Matrix was somehow shot to another galaxy with power that is still unknown to this day."

"So fill me in on the Matrix. The spirit did say that it was cast out of the galaxy, but it didn't say anything more than that. Do you think Optimus knows about it?"

"I will assume not. The Allspark and the Matrix are the result of a powerful blast that trapped both spirits within these relics. To compare human time spans with ours, you would call them ancients; the first of our kind."

Samuel, I am a priest of the Cybertronian court-"

"-I think better _High_ Priest, Soundwave," Sam cut him off.

Soundwave paused a moment before continuing, not expecting the interruption nor what was said during that interruption. "That is why Megatron brainwashed me and destroyed all the others. He then destroyed the femmes ensuring I was the only one who could manipulate the Allspark."

"Wait a minute," Sam stopped the priest's talk, remembering Bumblebee in Hoover Dam and how he got the cube to shrink down to a much smaller version, "Bumblebee could manipulate it. Why isn't he a priest?"

"All can, but they are very limited – like reasons for transport," Soundwave explained. "A priest like myself can do so much more, including use the Allspark as a weapon or even procreation, which I believe was Megatron's ultimate goal. Knowing I was the last, the Autobots shot the cube into space to avoid Megatron's plan in using it with me,"

Sam was silent a moment, as if taking in the information Soundwave was telling him. "I remember Optimus saying they wanted to rebuild Cybertron with the Allspark, but how?"

"There is so much that others do not understand about the Allspark. And now, you, Samuel, single handedly; hold the key to our future,"

The teen stared at Soundwave blankly. That statement made Sam feel awkward as all hell. He kinda considered that it had probably had no choice in the matter – he sure didn't. _He_ was the one running with it, _he_ was the one who fell with it, _he_ was the one who killed Megatron with it and _he_ was the one who got the weird cut. Soundwave watched Sam's inner confusion but whatever had happened, happened; there was no turning back now. "So, uh, what now?"

"Now, I must teach you how to control that power before you kill us all," the priest replied.

Well that just made Sam feel worse. He didn't want this kind of responsibility. "I'm gonna get you out of here come hell or high water,"

Soundwave gave him a funny look wondering how his reference to hell had anything to do with high water or getting out.

* * *

"They will help to protect you," Soundwave said while he nodded to his parasites. If he couldn't be around the boy, then one of them would have to suffice. With a nod in the panther-like Decepticon's way, Ravage stood up and stepped forward, already aware Soundwave had chosen him for this very important task. "He is to do as you like with him. He will still be linked to me, and he understands that he is to follow your orders unless in situations you cannot handle."

"But, why?"

"Until I can get out of here, I cannot allow you go be alone – especially in such close proximity to the Matrix. You need to leave here and Ravage will go with you. I guess you could consider him your…" Soundwave searching for the word he needed, "Pet,"

Ravage gave Soundwave a dirty look for the reference, but said nothing. He knew his mission was very important and digs could wait until another time. The cat-like mech stepped nearer to Sam. "How do you plan to leave with me?"

Sam looked between the two Decepticons, now wondering how he was going to convince the Autobots to allow him to be accompanied by Ravage. He had already heard them speaking, and they didn't sound like they planned on letting Soundwave free for a real long time. "I think I got a plan."

Sam turned for the door, Ravage in tow. He opened and nonchalantly just allowed Ravage out with him. Immediately Ironhide darted for them but Sam quickly jumped in front of him, causing him to come to a screeching halt."It's okay, Ironhide. He's with me,"

"Are you crazy? That mech has no right leaving that building!" Ironhide argued. The black mech lowered till his face was right in front of Sam, hoping to intimidate him into coming to his senses. What was he thinking?

Sam raised his brows as he thought up a good excuse and then gave Ironhide a look, "I plan on going home, you see, and rather than I go home alone, I figured I would take someone who could get places you guys can't. Rather I bring Ravage with me or something bad happen to me and all."

Now how could Ironhide argue with that? Technically, the main one, Soundwave, was still under their confinement. "Meh, Optimus isn't going to approve," the mech backed off.

Word traveled fast, and Optimus was now aware that Ravage was roaming free and Sam was planning to go home. He thought a moment and then opened a line to Bumblebee to give him orders.

* * *

Sam made his way to where Bumblebee was, still giving looks to those who had heard him, "Come on, Bee, what do ya say we get me home, huh?" Bumblebee glanced at him, unsure what to say. He wanted to help his friend, but then again, Sam had just walked out with Ravage as if he owned the place. He wasn't sure which the correct answer would be. At that time, Optimus nodded to Bumblebee. "Oh, and, uh, Ravage comes as well," Sam then said.

That's when Bumblebee came to a dead halt. The normally gentle scout turned bitter. "You're joking, right? You expect me to let _that_ filthy Decepticon inside of me?" It was bad enough that Sam had been hanging around those Decepticons, but to let one ride in him? That was taking it a bit too far.

"Can't say I'm too thrilled about it either, but it's in my job description, it seems," Ravage groaned.

"No way! I won't do it,"

"Listen," Ravage hissed, "it's either you let me ride with you, or I go with you by force. I am to remain with the Allspark wherever it goes in whomever it goes. _High Priest_ Soundwave's orders,"

"I don't care what you're supposed to do. You're not riding in me, Decepticon!"

"Both of you, please! Just shut up and get me home!" Sam then said with exasperation, tired of hearing the bickering. At that time, Bumblebee had also gotten a warning via an internal communicator.

Bumblebee gave the cat-like Decepticon a very dirty look – one that was irrefutably returned. The stare-down lasted until Bumblebee had taken on his Camaro form. Sam didn't miss the exchange, but he kept quiet about it, feeling the tension. Both doors opened and Sam and Ravage got in. The Camaro spun up dirt as it took off. The ride was oddly quiet and Bumblebee let Sam do the driving.

* * *

Sam was finally at home. He hadn't known a time since he'd met the Autobots that he wanted to just go home, lay down in his own bed and sleep – If he could. His mind was still whirring with questions, anxiousness and fears he never thought he'd be feeling in his life. Perhaps some time in his own bed and not around the Autobots would help him think.

Bumblebee backed out of the driveway. He'd received orders just as Sam went in. The Camaro turned and drove off, wondering why he'd gotten such an order.

It was late, around 9 or 10 when he had finally entered the house. After trying to explain to his father and mother that he had some business to attend to with the Autobots, he was dog tired and wanted nothing more to do than sleep.

However, when Ravage rounded the doorway… Sam had a difficult time trying to explain a giant, mechanical cat meander in after the him. Both wanted explanations, but Sam couldn't tell them that a Decepticon had decided to protect him and let one of his symbiots stay with him. Ravage wasn't much for talking, and much preferred to stay watching, listening to Sam talk, "He followed me home, can I keep him?"

"Sam, what_ is_ that?" Judy stood straight up from her seat, unsure if she should run or scold her son for bringing a monster into their home.

"He's… a long story."

"Samuel Witwicky, you have some explaining to do! Why is there a giant metal…" Judy paused as she gave the creature a good once-over. Deciding what to akin it to, she continued, "…_cat_ in my living room?"

Sam conceded and gave them the basic run down, omitting the Allspark part altogether. Neither of them seemed convinced after he'd mentioned that Ravage was also a Decepticon. "But mom, dad, he won't hurt anything,"

"Any_thing_? What about any_one_? You know how dangerous a Decepticon is, Sam!" Ron tried to argue, though the stare the cat was giving him was beginning to freak him out a little.

Judy tilted her head, "You don't expect it to stay in the house do you?"

"_He_ mom, Ravage is a _he_. And well yeah, it's not like he isn't house trained," Sam tried in a show of humor.

"So he has a name, huh? Who named him?"

"Soundwave?"

"What's a Soundwave?"

"An even bigger Decepticon," He couldn't help but snicker under his breath at the faces his parents made when he said that. Sometimes it's just funny no matter how hard you try. "But don't worry. This guy will protect me," he turned to Ravage and patted the large cat on the shoulder.

The cat nodded, "With my life, as Soundwave has ordered,"

Obviously the parents weren't going to win this one. The kid brought home a cat – A really, really big, mechanical cat. And the cat refused to leave his side, "Fine, but if he breaks anything, you're paying for it, young man!" Ron finally gave in. Shortly after, Sam made a beeline to his bedroom to get some rest.

This was a story to tell; only he wouldn't dare tell it to any living soul. Thinking back, seeing Megatron standing in that dam still bothered him to this day. He wasn't naive enough to think they had put him there and didn't do anything. Just as Simmons had said, most of their technology was derived from NBE-1. He grew annoyed as his reality came crashing down on him. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that the humans would turn him into an experiment like they had with Megatron. He needed Soundwave to teach him what he knew.

* * *

_So yeah, there ya have it :) Was prolly a lil choppy in some places, and maybe a little conusing in others, but I promise by the end of the story, you'll know everything :P Next chapt hopefully won't be such a long wait._


	11. Home Visitor

**A/N**: _The cat is out of the bag in this chapt. Prepare yourself! :D_

* * *

The Decepticon starship known as the Nemesis came to a rest in a trench in the Pacific Ocean. There it could go where it wanted pretty much undetected, but remaining down here doubled their chances of not being seen. If submarines were around, it could simply vanish from their sonar and radar. Right now it moved a rather slow, steady pace, creeping its way to the United States border.

Starscream knew that if their presence went undetected, they'd be able to ambush the Autobots without a problem. "Ah, Barricade," He suddenly spoke into the Decepticon comm. link, "How wonderful… you're still alive."

"What do you want, Starscream?"

"I _am_ your new leader and you will do good to address me as such. Find me Ladiesman217. Do _not_ kill him, you understand me? I want him alive."

* * *

Back in Tranquility, Sam and Ravage were in his room, lying around and relaxing. Neither had spoken as of yet, but Sam knew the cat could talk. "Optimus is being unusually strict, don't you think?" the young man commented out of the blue, "You think it's the Matrix doing it?" He frowned when he considered it for a moment.

"It's Soundwave's presence," Ravage replied simply. "They have never been around him this close, for this long so they don't know what to expect. They're afraid of him."

"But he said he'd protect me," Sam stated, "Don't you think that's proof enough that he won't hurt anyone?"

"To be honest, we too know he is acting radically different," The large feline admitted, "but his reassurance tells us he won't attack them if he is not provoked." He paused in thought, and then said, "We aren't sure what happened to him. Perhaps the crash jarred something loose,"

"The spirit completely healed him, Ravage," Sam said in a no-nonsense tone. "It fixed whatever was wrong with him before."

"I did not know of him before the Decepticons. Rumble seems to think he was this way at some point, because it is still him, and that's true, but…" Ravage paused again, this time antennae perking. "He's still different. As if a Darkness that overshadowed his spark vanished," he finished, his interest in what he thought he felt, gone.

Sam stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath, "This shit is crazy you know,"

"No kidding…"

The teen glanced at the clock. It was still early yet. "Well, we have a few hours before Bee returns to get me from his patrol, what do you say we take a snooze?" Sam spoke to the cat and the cat gave him a glance then tilted his head. Sam reached with his hand for the head of the cat as if it were second nature and pet him as he would a dog.

Ravage enjoyed the petting, as all of the symbiots did. Soundwave sometimes pet them when they had been hurt or just to show them they had done a good job. He leaned in to the petting for more, a soft humming sound coming from him which made Sam jerk his hand back quickly. "What?

Ravage gave him a questioning look because he had stopped and then nosed his hand, assuring him that he was ok and the humming sound started again when he pet him again. Sam chuckled when he realized that the humming sound was an equivalent to a normal cat's purring.

"I am going to try to sleep. Watch my parents if you decide to wander." He warned with a smile as he laid his head back staring at the TV. The cat laid down next to his bed, putting his head down. He needed some recharge too. He would need a lot more since he wasn't with Soundwave who recharged him automatically when he was in his chest.

Sam put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. All sorts of images flooded his mind from the previous hours when he re-awoke Soundwave and his symbiots somehow, which he still wondered how it happened. As he lay there, he started to drift slowly to sleep, white light filled his mind and before he knew it, he was out cold. In his mind, the Allspark was making itself known, but it also knew it would not be able to remain in the boy's body. Sam was playing host to the Allspark for the time being, but the Allspark wanted a different body. It knew the circumstances of the Matrix being so close, so now it needed to trick the Matrix holder and keep its distance. One way would be to jump from Sam. The boy already knew its secrets, so he would need to go somewhere close to the boy. A Cybertronian was out of the question.

It remained on the idea of jumping to Mikaela because she was close to Sam. No one would know of its intentions, and no one would know how it would transfer itself from him to her, but it had to. While Sam slept on, it was planning on how to get to the female. It also needed this to be as discreet as possible. She would be perfect.

Sam was met with that white… place again. It startled him and his only question was, "Anybody home?"

"I haven't left," that voice suddenly returned.

"Why did you bring me here again?"

"My situation has been compromised. I must 'jump ship' as you humans like to say,"

What the hell? "What? Why?"

"-But... before I go, I will show you who I am. You already know the basics, but since you will work alongside my priest from now on, you shall know the truth." There was no real explanation needed, only a quick visual.

The spirit gave him images of something a lot different than his usual dreams. It started out as a group of transformers – The likes of ones which Sam had never seen before. They were milling around in front of two others, which were gargantuan themselves. The Allspark showed Sam where it came from as the smaller transformers disappeared and gave way to the two giants. An image of the cube and another relic appeared over the two giant ones. The second relic was very much unlike the cube. It was darker with red pulsating lines, encircled by a still, silver ring, which seemed to float around it. It felt evil, like the pure essence of it.

"Who are you? Exactly? I mean, I understand _what_ you are," He was a powerful spirit in a cube. "But you've yet to of told me _who_ you are."

"Just as your planet has myths, so does Cybertron, boy," the voice answered him.

Sam's train of thought was interrupted by images of the two larger transformers who began to fight. There was a powerful explosion, which suddenly engulfed his vision. By the time it had cleared, the two warring giants were gone and instead, the two relics were in their places. No one could mistake the obvious sign. "Is this how you got trapped in the cube?"

"Just as Unicron is trapped in what is referred to as the Matrix of Leadership,"

He knew he heard that name before. Unicron… The Autobots spoke nastily of the name, usually using it in reference to something the Decepticons do. In fact, Bee had said that he swore Soundwave _was_ Unicron incarnate – the Dark god, Unicron. He thought about it a little more and a smirk played on his face as he considered the notion, "No..." he shook his head, "Couldn't be. You're not the one they call Primus are you?"

* * *

Sam's eyes suddenly shot open as if he'd been thrown out of his own subconscious and into the waking world. He stared at the ceiling for the longest time as he got over the strange rush. Screwing his eyes shut and flipping to his side, he came to the quick conclusion that he had nailed it. The spirit within the cube was Primus. Why didn't Soundwave just tell him that? And how much more complicated do these aliens get? Wasn't Primus like their god or something?

He opened his eyes and saw Ravage lying on the floor, also dreaming. Staring, his mind wandered to the cube again. He was just getting a handle on this and now it – or_ he_ rather – wanted to 'jump ship' as he said? He never told him why. "It's because of the Matrix," The teen said to himself as if finishing a thought.

The Allspark continued to stir in the mind of the teen while he slept as it prepared to leave. It had a lot of plans, and wasn't even sure if the human female would be happy with its decision, but as all life is, it needed to stay in a body while it regenerated. It wanted so badly to make sure it was alright, but self preservation overcame its need for politeness as it finally decided how to get into the female. The next time he touched her it would go to her instead. It had already helped through Sam, but found it would be able to help a lot more if it wasn't found for a while. It would attempt to go dormant in the girl, hoping it would be harder to sense where it was. It would be difficult for Soundwave to not sense it, but in some way it needed to tell the mech to stay away for now and pretend it didn't exist. But how?

* * *

It was the sound of a deep engine growling outside that startled Sam awake once again. He quickly looked over his shoulder to the window beside him thinking it might be Bumblebee returning, but the engine was different – it was deeper, scarier. Why did he know this sound?

"Sam get away!" Ravage had heard it coming or knew who it was and he suddenly stood up and leaped over the teen, landing so he was over him looking out the window. "It's Barricade!" The symbiot wasn't sure why Barricade would come around, and especially so boldly. It wasn't like him to risk showing himself – unless he was after Sam again.

Sam shuffled his way back and over his pillows and quickly slid down off his bed and peeked over the side as if it would protect him. "Barricade?" He asked, then leaned up to peek. Quickly he saw the tell tale black and white and instantly remembered, "That cop again!" Just as he said that, there was the unmistakable sound of a transformation.

"Yeah," Ravage replied, watching and preparing to protect Sam if he had to.

"Oh shit!" Sam said, hearing the black and white Decepticon move around the house, giving Sam an even better view. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Ravage let out a menacing and foul growl, making Sam even back up. "Why are you here, Barricade?"

"What have we here…? Aren't you one of Soundwave's things?" the hunter then asked, recognizing the form and voice immediately, "Why are _you_ here?"

"That's none of your business,"

"Likewise," The hunter replied. "Where's the boy?"

"Sam? Sam!" Ron and Judy both made their way into Sam's room as the heard the thunderous footsteps coming towards the house, "Sam what is that thing!"

Ravage was suddenly distracted by a sound and turned his head to look towards new voices and knew immediately that they were Sam's parents. This was getting bad real fast.

Sam's attention also diverted from the window and the oncoming Decepticon to see his parents, "Both of you, get back, hurry!" he said. "Quick! Get away!" He quickly shot up from his post and headed for them with arms extended, preparing to push them away from the danger. He turned to looked at the window again and saw Barricade's optics fill the window.

Judy and Ron both rubbernecked to see the red eyes in the window. Judy gaped as it looked directly at them then to the cat who was still in the window looking like it was preparing to take it on, "Sam what is that thing?"

"It's a Decepticon, okay?" He heard a chuckle and looked back as he continued to push his parents out. Turning back for his parents, Sam and tried to calm them even though he was freaked out himself, "You gotta get outta here! It's not safe!"

Ravage on the other hand let out a hiss and slunk down, readying to defend his charge from the coming cop. "Get out of here! I'm warning you!"

"Ha!" Barricade laughed and went to reach his hand toward the window. "I know… A family reunion," the hunter then said with a wicked grin. The black and white mech backed up slightly and then smirked at Ravage as his chest flashed open to reveal a completely healed Frenzy, who flew out and landed on Ravage. His force caused the cat-like mech to fall backwards and into the other wall.

Everyone instinctually ducked at the sound of something crashing in the room and looked to see what it was. Sam's parents were interested, confused, curious and scared all at the same time. "But Sam, what's it doing here?" Ron asked confusedly as he went in the directly Sam was guiding – down the stairs.

The cat stared in awe for a moment, having not seen Frenzy for some time. Instantly the awe disappeared and was replaced by anger. This also gave Sam and his family enough time to get down the stairs. Frenzy, however, wasn't entirely after Ravage. He was after Sam.

After he had pounced on Ravage, he gave chase to Sam. Ravage quickly got to his feet and went after Frenzy's leg in an attempt to trip him. Luckily, the spindly mech fell with a crash and Ravage took that opportunity to snare him good. Frenzy, realizing he was caught, and caught by someone he was not expecting, turned around and attacked Ravage for all it was worth. Cybertronian clicks and whirrs, along with high pitched sounds filled the house as the two wrestled on the floor, "You're alive!"

He knew that any one of the parasites would be angry at him and Ravage could seriously hurt him if he wanted to. Using his projectiles at him, he got one in the cat's neck and another in his shoulder. Ravage pulled the smaller mech in to him and put a foot down on Frenzy's head to pin him down and used the other to hold him in place. From there he completely forgot that the two had come for Sam and laid into Frenzy for what he had done before. He then stopped and held Frenzy down, asserting himself. "Back off, Frenzy!" the cat warned, "Leave Sam alone!"

"Orders are orders! I'm here to take him. Why are you protecting him?"

Ravage growled deeply, "Why did you desert us?"

"Soundwave was as good as dead! You should have seen him lying there! When did you get out?"

"You imbecile! Soundwave wasn't dead!" the cat hissed, "He was very aware when you left. You broke his spark!"

"I didn't break his spark, I was saving my hide!"

"Saving your hide? And you didn't think we knew he was dying as well?"

"Well, why didn't you get out, then, idiot?"

Ravage frowned slightly. "We… couldn't. We were trapped."

"Why do you protect the squishy!" Frenzy asked Ravage. "Let me have him!"

"No can do," Ravage growled, "The High Priest, _Soundwave_, wishes for him to be protected. If you hadn't deserted us, then you would have found that out too!"

Frenzy stopped as something washed over him. "_High Priest_? S-Soundwave? He's a-al-alive?" What the Pit was going on? High Priest? Since _when_? He knew he was a priest, but who gave him _that_ title?

"Oh yeah… and boy will he be pleased to see you!" Ravage growled, holding Frenzy down as he spoke, "You hurt him badly, Frenzy. Maybe I should bring you back with me to see him."

"No!" Frenzy tried to fight Ravage off of him again, "I was saving my own aft! And I did! I work with Barricade now!"

"It wasn't only about you. Rumble barely made it. Sam saved us all."

" Ladiesman217? How?"

"None of your business, traitor!" He stepped back, allowing the smaller mech to live. "Go back to your _new_ host, tell him to leave us alone, or I will call Soundwave, and you and I both know he will make little work of him."

Frenzy skittered free from the cat-like mech, knowing damned well he had let him go. This changed things. If Soundwave was around, Starscream would want to know about it immediately. For now, that would take precedence over catching the stupid human. Ravage was right. Soundwave would turn Barricade into a vegetable. Ravage's tail continued to thump loudly, swaying quickly from the scuffle. Standing and rounding the doorway to find Sam, he made his way down the stairs and saw all three humans huddle behind an island in the kitchen. The mech nodded at them, making them aware that it was all right to come out, "This isn't over, I fear,"

There was the sound of talking and Barricade transforming. The sound of that deep engine filled the area as the mech spun out of the driveway, kicking up dirt as he did so. He contacted Starscream on the Nemesis and their failed capture because of Ravage.

"He's gonna kill me!" Frenzy suddenly said with panic. The small mech was more alert than usual, moving from one side of the cruiser to the other side nervously as if he were looking for something,

"Who?"

"He's gonna kill me!"

"Would you stop moving around so much!" Barricade growled, annoyed at Frenzy's alarm.

"But!-"

"-Knock it off!"

"But you don't understand! Soundwave's_ alive_!"

Starscream, having heard the parasite, curled a fist in anger, "_WHAT __did you just say?_" Why wouldn't that Primus-forsaken mech just _go away_! He hadn't picked up his presence as he left, so he assumed he'd died from the crash.

* * *

_lol, yeah, was that what you were hoping for? ^^ _

_Until next time :)_


	12. Mikaela, The Allspark

**A/N**: _Yes! An update! Took some working on this one to get it right. I think it's right. Might be confusing too, but if you know my work, you know confusing is good ^^_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

The day Sam had left, Soundwave couldn't help being nervous from being so far away from the Allspark. He became even more upset when he'd gotten a message from Ravage_, "Barricade and Frenzy were here for Sam. I was able to fend them off this time, but there's no promise I can do it again if they become more determined."_

"_Is Sam all right?"_ It made Soundwave wary to know that other Decepticons were hunting for the boy. They couldn't possibly know about the Allspark being in Sam, so perhaps they wanted him for another reason, but why? For a moment, Soundwave wondered why they hadn't torn the house apart at the time,

"_Sam is safe for the night, if they come snooping again, I will take him away from here, immediately."_

"_Very well. Do not hesitate, Ravage."_

"_Of course, boss,"_

"_Frenzy…?"_

Ravage could hear the pain in his master's voice, _"I'm sorry,"_ was the cat-like 'Con's only reply to that.

While Soundwave sat quietly in the building, once again, the loss of Frenzy hit him. He was even more bothered to know the little critter was still alive, since he couldn't tell anymore. He felt the need to call him back, but refrained from doing so, for now. He knew that Frenzy wouldn't reply since he'd cut their connection, but it would be worth it to try, just in case. Even though his core programming was to obey Soundwave, he was a hacker, so he may have fiddled with his own programming, changing it to obey Barricade.

Soundwave watched and waited for another Autobot to show. If Sam was in any danger he would be the first to know. When Ironhide had come to check on him, he said something about Sam and what had happened. "The Allspark is in danger,"

"What are you talking about?" Ironhide groused, stopping by the building and looking in. The idea of Soundwave being here still pissed him off, but on the other hand, he was curious about this priesthood and connection with Sam. It wasn't like the Decepticon was lying about it, since he saw with his own two optics.

"Barricade and Frenzy arrived there. Ravage has had fended off their attack. There is no doubt they will try again."

Ironhide gave the mech a surprised look through the window, "I will have Bumblebee go get him then,"

"Not required. Ravage will take care of it. He is closest at the moment. Bumblebee wouldn't get there in time should they try again."

"Not sure I entirely trust the boy's safety in the hands of one of your rodents,"

Soundwave didn't say anything about the nickname, keeping quiet with his annoyance about it. "Ravage will not fail," Ironhide wrinkled his nose at Soundwave, reasonably annoyed that Soundwave thought Ravage could protect the kid better than Bumblebee. He headed away to let Prime know what was going on.

* * *

Mikaela had been helping Ratchet with setting other parts of the med bay. She was worried about Sam, and they still hadn't really talked as much as she would have liked. She was worried about him and his odd connection with the Decepticon, sometimes fighting with the Autobots to go and see him. She kept quiet about it all day while she worked around the base.

Trying to take her mind off of Sam, she had taken up helping the resident medic with his medical bay and getting things finally situated. They had built walls around an area and installed doors so Ratchet and his patients had their privacy. She hadn't really talked much to him, especially with asking things she wanted to know about the Cybertronians. They had small talk here and there and they talked about various other things as well. He shared a bit of knowledge of Cybertronians and she also told him how some parts sounded a lot like car engines, thus they talked about the differences. After watching Bumblebee transform a number of times, the last time he had, she turned to Ratchet. "So tell me something," she said to him while pulling hoses closer to his largest workspace, "How exactly do you guys fit down into the cars you imitate?"

Ratchet looked at her, picking the hoses from her and setting them up next to the berth, "All in all, it really is simple," he explained, "the mechanics of it are comparable to folding down a chair. We collapse and every part fits somewhere. He tapped something on his arm and a hologram appeared above it of Bumblebee. It showed the scout standing there normally and then in slow motion, it showed him folding down into a car. Mikaela watched with great interest, still wondering where the motor went. He pinched his fingers much like one with an iPod to enlarge the smaller intricacies of their bodies, "As you can see, its precision. Even the smaller parts of the interior while we are in vehicle mode usually go back to being parts they were before,"

"What about all of your energon lines and such?"

"Same thing," he explained, pinching it in closer to show her it all fit well into the body of the car. The more she learned, the more interested she became in their anatomy.

All throughout the day, she'd glance at the area they had Soundwave in, but dared not go near it. She did not fully understand Sam's fascination with that Decepticon as much as she'd liked. Deep down, she wondered if he was tricking him somehow. He had done something to him and had called him the Allspark several times while she watched, but when she asked about it, the Autobots didn't prove the information she was looking for. They weren't really even reassuring to her, seeing as they were new to this as well.

They hadn't told her about Barricade and Frenzy just yet, so as not to make her worry more. She was under enough stress and confusion without the added bonus of knowing her boyfriend was in danger. Soundwave and Ravage apparently had it all under control. That meant that Ratchet or Ironhide stayed in more contact then they would have liked with the Decepticon to make sure everything was all right.

Soundwave, on the other hand, was quite annoyed at their constant asking how things were. He swore on a breem went by before he would get asked about Sam and Ravage. He swore if they asked again, he was going to burst.

It was about 11 P.M. when she finally announced that she wanted to go home to get some sleep. Ratchet offered to take Mikaela home, and on the ride there, they talked mechanics. She was telling him about what she knew and he was telling her about Cybertronian make up and how they worked, helping her better understand them in ways that sometimes she winced at, completely seeing past the quantum mechanics and physics that the Transformers had come to master, "So I will be up around 10 AM, can you have Sam and Bee get me then?" she asked as they pulled into her driveway.

"I will inquire." Ratchet told her.

"Thanks Ratch!" she smiled and opened the door.

"Goodnight, Mikaela," he said to her as she hopped out.

She patted his hood, something they had all come to realize as a friendly gesture, "You too, Mr. medic,"

She headed into the house and Ratchet made sure she disappeared behind a closed door before he left, himself, headed back for the base. When he got back, he was surprised to find a bunch of smaller symbiots bouncing around the main room and computer room. Buzzsaw and Laserbeak were sparring in the air while Rumble was sparring with Ratbat on the ground. He let out a deep grumble and made his way past them, careful not to step on them as he gave a sharp look to Soundwave, who looked at him curiously but did not speak, only watching the symbiots play. He showed no emotion past the faceplate he never retracted, and glanced at the medic before standing, knowing well that his fate was to be met then next morning with the Matrix.

* * *

Starscream tromped back and forth in the Nemesis while he thought about what to do. The starship had given no indication that an external communications had linked up to it, so Starscream figured Soundwave hadn't known they were there or if he did, he was broken somehow. He certainly hoped he was. If he wasn't, he was set on finding him and breaking him, or in the least bit, having him locked up so he could get back at him for all the times he tormented him.

"_Barricade, were you successful in retrieving the human?"_

"_Negatory,"_ Barricade replied with both annoyance and tiredness. Tired because he hadn't had a wink of recharge in almost a week now, annoyed because Frenzy just would not stop! He was all over him, scared shitless about Soundwave. He'd been parked on a street on the outskirts of the city thinking of another way to grab him however. _"Ravage was there."_

"_Ravage was what?"_ Well that didn't make any sense. Surely Ravage would have been there to kill the human.

"_He was there, protecting the human."_ Barricade answered, still a bit puzzled about it himself. He hissed when Frenzy squeezed himself into a spot nearly under his seat, digging his claws to get deeper.

"_That's bizarre."_ Starscream muttered, wondering to himself why Ravage was with them and protecting them. _"Find out what you can about this. It bothers me."_ Just why did Soundwave appear to be helping the boy? What did he have to glean from him? It was well known that Soundwave did nothing without a purpose, so for him to be protecting him, meant that boy meant something to him. What an even better reason to get his hands on him.

* * *

The next morning came as promised and Bumblebee had stopped to get Mikaela as a surprise for Sam before he'd gone to get him. It was earlier than usual, as Prime was concerned for the boy's safety, after hearing about the two other Decepticons coming around, so he sent Bumblebee as soon as he could. Mikaela was groggily woken up by the sound of a horn and peeked out the window as she threw on a robe. "Be down in a minute!" she called to him.

As soon as she had gotten dressed, she ran down the stairs to meet with the Autobot. She got in the driver's side as not to raise suspicion. "First things first," she said, pulling the door closed. "We gotta stop and get me coffee, got it?"

"Sure thing," Bee replied, starting his engine for the girl. The two left Mikaela's home, headed for the nearest Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks. When they pulled up, the guy at the window admire the car, "Nice ride," he said, handing Mikaela her order. "Thanks," she smiled, knowing well Bumblebee's choice of style was still heavily unknown to most of society, the car having not been release as of yet. Bumblebee drove off as she sipped her coffee.

As they pulled into the driveway, Mikaela decided she would go and wake Sam up and with a pat to the steering wheel, she set her coffee down and got out and headed for the door. Knocking, she wasn't sure if anyone was up yet, but to her surprise, Judy answered, "Mikaela, how good to see you!" she exclaimed. Mikaela shushed her, "Can I get Sam?" she asked, looking to see if he was already awake.

"Sure, sure, come on in!" Judy opened the door and Mikaela wandered in, making her way to the stairs, "Is he up yet?"

"No, he wouldn't be for a while,"

Mikaela smiled as she headed her way upwards. Peeking around, she saw him lying in his bed, Ravage in the middle of the floor. She saw Ravage pique and put her finger to her lips as meaning for him to keep quiet, hoping he got the hint. He watched her come into the room and she quietly sat on Sam's bed. She leaned over to kiss him awake and that was when something extraordinary happened. As she kissed him, Sam had grabbed her arm and his eyes opened, looking right at her, but it wasn't the Sam she knew. "It is for the best, I'm sorry." He held onto her just as she spied the mark on his arm, wondering what it was. It seemed to recede into the actual injury and she felt him tighten his grip.

Trying to pull away, she became a little nervous when he didn't let go, "Sam, you're hurting me," she tried to tell him. Ravage was up on his feet, approaching. Sam's body started to shake uncontrollably, as if he was overloaded on caffeine. It was then Sam seemed to glow a pale blue and the light intensified, congregating at the injury on Sam's arm. It then, with a rush of electric looking bots, went for Mikaela, nearly throwing her into Ravage. Ravage had moved just in time, as to not hurt the girl with his body. Sam went back to normal, not remembering how in the hell Mikaela ended up in his room, "Mikaela?" he asked, curious why she was on the floor.

Mikaela was stunned a moment, on her button the floor, looking up at Sam with both apprehension and fear, "Sam? Sam what happened?"

Barely being awake, he had no idea what had transpired, "I… I don't know," he said a little lazily, "What are you doing on the floor?"

"You did something to me!" She said, shuffling her way to her knees then to her feet. "What the hell did you do to me?" She didn't feel any different, only the static in the air as if she'd been scuffling her feet on a carpeted floor.

Sam sat there a moment, trying to figure out what was wrong. He looked at Ravage, who seemed to be on high alert, "What happened? Did you see?"

"The Allspark," the 'Con said, looking from Sam, to her.

"Oh…" Sam said, and then it hit him, "Oh! Oh shit!" He hadn't had time to tell her what the plans of the Allspark were.

Mikaela looked between them both, "Allspark? What about the Allspark? What did it do?"

Sam sat a moment, trying to see if he could feel the presence of the Allspark and when he could not, he looked at her, "it moved."

"Moved? What do you mean it moved? Explain to me, Sam…"

Sam got up and began finding clothes. He didn't even bother to worry he was only in his boxers, "It went from me to you. We gotta get you to Soundwave, pronto."

"I can tell him, if you like," Ravage informed, ready to contact his master to let him know what had transpired.

"No, no, wait, Ravage. The Allspark said it wanted this to be covert. We gotta get her to him first."

The more she thought about it, the more miffed she was becoming that something had happened and it had happened to her and now Sam was talking about taking her to Soundwave. "What the hell, Sam?"

Her voice was raised and he quickly grabbed her, "Shh, shh, we gotta do this quietly, okay? Just calm down."

"How the hell do you expect me to calm down at a time like this?" As she finished her sentence, Bumblebee blew his horn, letting them know he was still sitting out there waiting for them.

"Just… just calm down, okay? Don't be all crazy right now. Bumblebee is gonna be suspicious if you go out there all pissed off, okay? Just keep quiet till we get to the Autobot's base. I promise everything will be explained,"

Trusting she wasn't going to die from the experience, she nodded, still a bit shaken up. "okay, okay, then," he threw on a shirt and tugged at her arm, "Come on. Remember, say nothing while in Bumblebee."

Back at the base, Bee was pulling in with Sam and Mikaela. The two hadn't said a word the entire ride and Bumblebee felt something was off, but he didn't say anything. She was beginning to realize she felt something different, like a prickling in the back of her neck. Sam had told her to not say anything, so they were waiting. Bumblebee had no idea what was going on between the two since they hadn't spoken since they'd left Mikaela's. He was quite concerned.

Ravage hopped out from the back seat and shook his head. He glared at the Camaro and looked toward the building Soundwave was in. He could see him peering out the window and guilt struck him that his boss was still stuck in there while he roamed free. He'd noticed he was watching the children and heard him say down their private link, _"Bring me the boy _and_ the girl," _

For a moment, he was a little confused, but did as asked. The cat-like Con turned to Sam and Mikaela, "Soundwave wishes to see you both," The Autobots watched as the two followed Ravage.

"Mikaela, where are you going?"

The girl shrugged, looking over her shoulder at Ratchet, the one who'd asked her. The Autobots were concerned about this, since she pretty much avoided Soundwave as much as possible, not even bringing him or his symbiots rations of energon when asked. What was this sudden turn of face? Besides that, what could Soundwave possibly want with the girl? It was sort of understandable about Sam, but why her?

When they got there, Soundwave was still watching Mikaela closely, scanning her curiously as her life signs were altered. Something didn't add up. The power of the Allspark no longer resonated from Sam as strong as it was, instead Mikaela was the one who seemed to glow with it. "What happened?" he asked, rather harshly, yet quiet enough no one else outside became curious. It aggravated him slightly that something had occurred without his presence. He would have started working with Sam today on a better way to control the subtle energies, but it seemed the Allspark had a different plan.

"It somehow transferred to Mikaela," Sam told the Decepticon without hesitation. Mikaela only listened in, unnerved about standing here with the Decepticon and hearing what they had to say.

It must have had good reason for not doing so while in the presence of its priest. Soundwave gave it some thought before responding, "Being in a femme, it makes more sense." The priest leaned down closer to the girl, making her want to take a step backwards. "I do not know its purpose fully as to why it switched places, but it must have its rationales,"

"Primus told me all about it before he left,"

Soundwave turned his head sharply to Sam, his optics behind his visor brightening. He glanced out the window to see if anyone had been listening in and when he was satisfied, he looked back to Sam. "Luckily no one else heard you. Do yourself a favor and do not speak his name out loud. It will cause nothing but problems."

Sam was taken aback by the mech's statement. Mikaela only looked at Soundwave thoughtfully, as if she were trying to figure him out in some way. She hadn't asked for what happened. The only thing she knew was the funny feeling after Sam had grabbed her.

"So it moved from Sam? Why didn't it at least ask me first?" She was a tad annoyed at the idea, and the more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became.

"No one is to know about this. Keep this as discreet as possible,"

Sam looked up at the giant, a little confused, but with a nod. "Won't the Autobots suspect something? I mean, it will be Mikaela you'll need, not me,"

The mech sat up, his chains clinking on the floor. Sam listened to them and looked to Mikaela, seeing her response to it. It fascinated him how she cringed inadvertently as she, too, was looking at them. "I will see to a way that you will be a medium between us until something else is figured out."

"I feel it may be in her now because it needs a female host, and since we are all respectively, not female, it went to the next one it knew was who was close by." The priest scanned Mikaela several times as he spoke. It was becoming more understood only by him as to the purpose of this. Femmes were more powerful in mind and spark on Cybertron and he wondered if the same was true on Earth.

"But what will it do to her?" Sam asked, concerned for her safety.

"That's what I am scanning for now. For the time being, it seems to have gone into a state of dormancy." Soundwave answered, leaning in closer, his red visor gleaming a few times here and there as he scanned. He picked up variants in the readings he got from her, wondering what she could possibly do to others or herself while in this state. If nothing happened, then he could only explain to her what was going on, however, if she could harness the Allspark's power while it was dormant, something more would need to be done.

"Dormant?" Sam asked, derailing Soundwave's train of thought. "You mean, it wasn't dormant in me?"

The priest looked back to the boy, "It's regenerating, setting itself up with her neurology and biological systems. As long as it is regenerating, it may withhold all its power, or it may not,"

"But… What about me?" Sam asked curiously. He still had the mark on his arm, but it had since dulled to near nothing and the pain was nowhere close to as intense as it had been before. He glanced to his arm, wondering if Mikaela would get something like that.

"The transfer will wear off eventually," Soundwave said, his visor never moving from the girl he knelt down over as he examined her further. Mikaela didn't seem to mind his constant scanning of her and she hadn't taken her eyes off of him. "There shouldn't be any permanent damage from the switch,"

Sam watched her a moment. She acted so much different, as if he wasn't even there beside her. He elbowed her and she looked at him then back to Soundwave. Hopefully this wouldn't last. "We will need to protect her,"

"Ravage, your priorities have changed. Keep an eye on her while she is out of my sight," Soundwave ordered. It was for the best interest of all of them that she not only remain protected, but remain a secret. He still had no idea what the Autobots had in store for him and since they wanted to keep Sam away as much as possible, they'd want to do the same with Mikaela.

Suddenly, Mikaela collapsed. Soundwave moved quickly, reaching the end of his chain, yet she was close enough he'd caught her in his hand. Sam jumped and then began to worry. Soundwave had told him that Mikaela might go to sleep for a time, but it didn't stop worry creeping into his mind that something more was wrong with his girlfriend. His previous experience with Soundwave told him the mech would take utmost care of her, but it still nagged in his mind. "She gonna be okay?"

"Yes,"

He staggered slowly the effects of the transference not out of his mind yet. "I knew this was going to happen," Whispered Sam as he looked down gravely at his sleeping girlfriend, "The Allspark showed me. I should have at least warned her first."

* * *

_Much different from what it was before. Now, I should have another chapt out pretty soon, seeing how many i am busting out lately, but no promises - though I do promise an update before the end of the wor- I mean, the end of the year ^^_


	13. A Talking To

**A/N**: _I know, I know. Took me long enough, but hey! It's here! Hopefully the next one won't be as long. Sorries!_

_Please enjoy!_

* * *

At first, she saw nothing. Pure darkness overwhelmed her, and she had the feeling she was not alone. But the darkness did not last, and she soon found herself surrounded by an intense, white light. It was nearly blinding. Almost immediately she felt herself floating but caught her balance as she felt the floor under her. She still could not see it though. Wherever this place was, it was disorienting as hell. There were small bolts of what looked like electricity bouncing all over the 'floors' while various bolts crackled above her. She did not fear these bolts, though; she feared nothing in this place. If anything, her logic was trying to tell her to be scared out of her mind, but she was calm, as if the place was wrapping a blanket of serenity around her shoulders.

"Mikaela," spoke a voice that was softer and more majestic than she expected. If she didn't know better, it almost sounded like it had a computerized tone to it.

As she looked around, wondering where exactly she was, she suddenly saw something standing in front of her. At first it seemed transparent, but as it faded in, Mikaela was shocked to see a giant towering over her. He had to be at least 100 feet tall. Whites and silvers adorned him and he was clearly a Cybertronian – though she didn't know they could get that big. Despite the fact his lips did not move, she knew it was him who spoke to her. She gave no response at first, squinting to get a better look, hoping her mind was not playing tricks on her. No matter the blinking or squinting, he did not disappear.

"Mikaela," the voice spoke again.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"I am the spirit which resides in the Allspark," came the reply.

Spirit inside the Allspark? A Cybertronian spirit? For some reason it was difficult for her to understand the concept. Why was it talking to her again? "What are you talking about? Why are you here?" Where exactly was here, anyway?

"My priest will explain it in more detail when you see him. The boy has also retained all memories of our encounter as well, should you need to ask him questions," the being responded. He then got right to the point, "You are the femme of your species, correct?"

Okay, why would it even ask such a question? "Wha? Why?"

"It seems that I am in need of your assistance, Mikaela," the being answered.

"_My_ assistance? What for?" She wrinkled her nose in confusion and probably a bit of worry. How did it get into her head? Why was it talking to _her_? Wasn't it Sam who was the chosen for this stuff? _He_ was the one who did that whole light show and brought back that Decepticon, Soundwave, from near death.

Seeming to sense her anxiety, the giant spoke calmly, "Do not be afraid, I mean you no harm,"

Yeah, sure. _Not_ fear something that big? "What do you expect? I'm in some place of light, I have no idea how I got here, and there's a giant Cybertronian standing over me." She paused to look around, then asked, "So where exactly is here?"

"You are within the Well of Sparks; A realm where I can exist since I was trapped within the cube."

"What? Why is this happening? I thought this had to do with Sam?"

"I have transferred myself to you, instead of Samuel, Mikaela. There are other powers at work right now and it seems Sam has been compromised, I'm afraid. None of the Autobots must know of my presence within you."

"Compromised how?"

"Optimus Prime carries a relic within his Spark casing that is much like the cube I used to exist within. To protect myself and the Cybertronians, I had to leave him."

"Protect yourself from what? Are there Cybertronian-eating beings bigger than Cybertronians somewhere out there?" It was the only thing she could think of. The giant gave her a puzzled look, perhaps wondering what she was asking. At the puzzled look, being just as confused, Mikaela went on a tangent. "Listen, I don't know what happened. One thing I know, I am leaning over to give my boyfriend a kiss, and the next, I am standing here talking to… you?"

He silenced a moment, unsure how to take her statement. "To answer your odd question about Cybertronian-eating beings, as far as I know, they don't exist. I needed to bring you here so I can explain what is going on and so you have a better understanding of what has been set before you."

What had been set before her? "Explain what? I am so confused."

"With your help, not all hope is lost. My recovery will be exponentially greater if I remain concealed. Once I am healed, I will no longer burden you. I would be faster if you had more contact with Soundwave, but that is not possible at this time."

"Huh? Why are you even doing this?"

"Femmes are almost always stronger willed and stronger minded, and you are no exception. I read you when I first came in contact with you through Sam. I was the reason for their war. They fought over what I am and what I can do. It is I, along with the help of my priest that can create new Cybertronian life and fix their world. They are mere 'robots' to your species, Mikaela, but truly, they are much more than that. They are a life form. A life _force_. Their Sparks are equivalent to your soul and it also keeps them alive. Soundwave is my link to the external world, and now so are you. They need us, Mikaela. They need you."

Now that began to sound like something she didn't like. Why would they need her? Not to be selfish or anything, but she didn't sign up for this and was more than happy to give this thing back to Sam. "Me? Why me? I ain't any Cybertronian!"

"But you are a femme, correct?"

"Yeah, what's that have to do with anything?" Wait. Oh no. What was this giant thing thinking? "You're not gonna turn me into some kind of breeder for them are you?" She wasn't sure why she even said that – _thought_ that.

It took a moment before finally the creature actually chuckled, surprising her. She didn't know it could show such emotion. So it got a kick out of her question? "Of course not, Mikaela, I am not here to harm you, in fact, after careful consideration, I think I would turn one of the Cybertronians into a femme of their own species if I were to be that radical, rather than turn you into one of them. What strange questions you ask."

Mikaela breathed a sigh of relief, and then tilted her head thoughtfully, "What? You mean, like make one of them into a female? You can really do all that?" Well if it could do that, then why didn't it? They were of the same species and having this incredible responsibility wasn't quite what she was expecting to wake up to today. The idea had her irked.

"Correct,"

"Then why don't you?"

"There are too many complications that I am not willing to risk – hence the word radical. From here on out, I need you to help me repair myself. It will take some time, but I must warn you now, that while I am recovering, you need to be very careful around them, or something unexpected may happen. I have tried to lower my power, but I cannot stop it all from going through you."

That didn't sound good… "Define _unexpected_," Mikaela challenged, folding her arms. What was the giant getting at? What other 'goodies' did it have up its proverbial sleeve?

"There are many unexpected things, Mikaela, for one, I never thought that I would be shot into space. I never imagined that I would be used as a tool to destroy one of their own," it responded.

What a way to dodge a question. "You mean, you remember that?"

"Yes," the Allspark answered. Arcs of lightning were moving through its optics as it spoke, as if they were plasma balls. "But to define the way you ask, you may create other Cybertronians, but it would not be your own fault. My priest will be able to better assess what can happen while I am asleep though, since all of my power cannot become dormant."

"Huh? This is the strangest thing I have ever heard," And here she thought that Sam talking about his eBay page and how a giant robot had something to do with it was weird. She shook her head with a laugh, "You're serious? How do I go about stopping it?"

"You can't. The powers that reside in you now are more than any one human has probably had so controlling is out of the question. It can create life, take it away, or it can do some random things. I am unfamiliar with being in this situation so I cannot tell for sure." The giant's eyes glinted again, going from blue to red, to other colors of the spectrum, "Also, you must be especially careful around the Matrix," it continued.

"The _Matrix_?" she asked, a little confused. Oh, so there was more to this? "Alright," she nodded, displeased about more things being piled on top of her. Annoyance was clear in her voice as she asked, "What is the Matrix and why should I avoid it?"

"It is the relic I mentioned that resides in the chest of the leader of the Autobots. Somehow he ended up with it for reasons I am not certain of at this time. You can consider the Matrix as being like my counterpart and is evil in every way. It will attempt to destroy me if it senses me in you."

"So, you're telling me I can't go around Optimus?"

"That is correct," he paused when what appeared to be sadness washed over her face. "I am very sorry. I know you have an attachment to him, but no. The risks are too severe."

Mikaela remembered Sam telling her how Optimus had wanted him to put the Allspark to his chest in the midst of battle. She wondered to herself if there was a different reason than Prime had considered. "Perhaps being in the possession of the Prime may help it lose its darkness."

"I am not so sure about that. Be careful around them. Do not expose yourself to them directly. Not while I am healing. I may not be able to help you, should you need it."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? It's not like she touched their sparks every day. She would need to learn everything she could about their life forces. She didn't want any _unexpected_ results either. "How will I be able to hide you if Soundwave knows about this? As far as I have seen with Sam, I will need to be closer to him than I have been, right?"

"He will figure out a way. He is a very smart mech. He already knows the danger surrounding this situation. I trust he will make the right decision."

"Fine," Mikaela's voice was stern, "I will be careful, now can I go? I want to see how my boyfriend is doing."

"You are free to go, just remember what I told you," the being cautioned her.

"What if I need to speak to you again?"

"We shall speak again, do not worry yourself, Mikaela,"

"Wait!" Mikaela reached out her hand, an arc going from the Allspark to her, "What if the Decepticons get their hands on me!"

"I know no factions, only life. They are all the same being, some are just different than others. Do your best to not get into the wrong hands," and the Allspark faded just like that.

Darkness covered her eyes once more, and before she knew it, she was staring up and two sets of eyes were peering down at her. Soundwave and Sam were standing over her protectively, both with looks of anticipation written across each face. She felt movement under her suddenly and realized she was in the mech's hands and he was scanning her. She couldn't move, as if her body was paralyzed, "Soundwave? _What _the hell just happened?"

"You went to sleep." Sam then said, lightly touching her. A concerned look passed over Sam's face and he squeezed her hand lightly.

Mikaela stilled then, feeling more than just hands under her. She felt warmth and for a second she thought she heard a soft pulse. It had a strange ring to it, one that was surprisingly pleasant. "What's that sound?"

"What sound?" Sam asked. He didn't hear anything.

"That ring."

"It is my spark's tone," Soundwave answered. "All have a slightly different sound, making identity simpler."

Mikaela considered it a moment and listened to the sound, concentrating on it. It was then she realized it. She could feel them in a strange way. She knew their names. Down to their very beings, she could sense where they were. "Could you feel them like this, Sam?"

"Feel who?"

Obviously not. Mikaela snorted. "The bots. I can feel who's where and who's who. It's so weird." Looking in the direction she felt each and every one, she could tell by their sparks who they were.

Sam idly wondered why he didn't get this sensation Mikaela was describing. In his wondering, he happened to notice a black mark on Mikaela's neck. He moved closer to her. He reached for her collar and pulled it down slightly. Recognizing it as the mark he'd previously had on himself, he pointed, "Soundwave, what is that?"

The priest followed where he was pointing, seeing the mark for himself, "It appears to be the mark of Primus," he then pointed to his own upper arm, showing what was previously hidden, "All those who work with the Allspark are granted this mark."

Soundwave watched the girl. There was a strange look to her eyes. "You have spoken to Primus?" he asked.

Who was Primus? "Huh?"

"His power has come to be known as the Allspark, but his name is Primus. It is him who I was born to serve."

"Was it the one in the Well of Sparks that I just talked to?"

Soundwave only responded with a nod.

She knew they were in for it if anything that giant had said was true. Stretching, Mikaela sat down cross-legged next to Soundwave. After she made herself comfortable, she nodded and replied, "Then I guess I have. You and I need to have a very long talk,"

Mikaela and Sam had completely forgotten about the Autobots until Mikaela suddenly turned her head and looked toward the door, nearly faling out of Soundwave's hands as she went to stand. Just after, it opened, revealing a pissed off Ironhide, who's weapons were glowing and he looked ready to shoot.

* * *

What fun :D

Until next time...


End file.
